“Singer gets first national chart ink exclusively in Billboard,” read a caption on page 65 of the issue dated July 1, 2006. “Song title name-checks fellow artist.”
The blurb included an arrow pointing directly to the single debuting at the No. 60 anchor spot on the Hot Country Songs chart: “Tim McGraw,” by then-16-year-old Taylor Swift.
By the end of the first quarter of the 21st century, Swift had rewritten numerous vaunted Billboard chart records.
As Billlboard celebrates the first 25 years of the 21st century with charts recapping the top artists, albums and songs in that span, we’re also looking back at some of the most impressive achievements on the Billboard 200 albums chart and the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart earned by Swift — the No. 1 act on Billboard’s Top Artists of the 21st Century retrospective.
Below, check out 13 of Swift’s most news-making feats on the Billboard 200 and Hot 100 through the end of 2024 (and run down even more here).
Plus, browse highlights of Billboard’s Top Artists of the 21st Century chart and the entire 100-position ranking in Billboard’s charts menu. Then, check back Thursday (Jan. 9) for the unveiling of Billboard’s Top Billboard 200 Albums of the 21st Century chart and Friday (Jan. 10) for the premiere of Billboard’s Top Hot 100 Songs of the 21st Century chart.
Billboard’s Top Artists, Top Billboard 200 Albums and Top Hot 100 Songs of the 21st Century recaps reflect performance on weekly charts dated Jan. 1, 2000, through Dec. 28, 2024. The Top Artists category ranks the best-performing acts in that span based on activity on the Billboard 200 and Hot 100. (Titles released prior to mid-1999 are excluded, although such entries that appeared on the Billboard 200 or Hot 100 in that span contribute to the calculation of the Top Artists chart.)
Additional reporting by Xander Zellner
Swift scored 14 Billboard 200 No. 1s between 2008 and 2024, the most among women dating to the survey’s start in March 1956. She first led with Fearless and most recently ruled with The Tortured Poets Department.
Across her 14 No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200, Swift rang up 86 weeks at No. 1, the most among soloists in the chart’s archives. Her most recent leader, The Tortured Poets Department, dominated for a personal-best 17 weeks from charts dated May 4 through Dec. 21, 2024.
Swift tallied new No. 1 albums on the Billboard 200 in 2019 (Lover); 2020 (Folklore and Evermore); 2021 (Fearless [Taylor’s Version] and Red [Taylor’s Version]); 2022 (Midnights); 2023 (Speak Now [Taylor’s Version] and 1989 [Taylor’s Version]); and 2024 (The Tortured Poets Department). She is the only soloist to score new No. 1s in six consecutive calendar years in the list’s history.
On the Hot 100 dated Nov. 5, 2022, Swift became the first artist to claim the entire top 10 of the Hot 100 in a single week, thanks to songs from her album Midnights, which simultaneously launched atop the Billboard 200.
Swift is the only act to monopolize the Hot 100’s top 10 in a single frame – and has done so twice. On the May 4, 2024-dated chart, she outpaced her own record, holding the top 14 spots with tracks from her album The Tortured Poets Department, which the same week soared in atop the Billboard 200.
Swift has achieved 10 Hot 100 top 10s from both Midnights and The Tortured Poets Department.
Swift’s “Blank Space” ended the reign of her “Shake It Off” on the Hot 100 dated Nov. 29, 2014. She replaced herself at No. 1 again on the Nov. 11, 2023-dated chart, when “Is It Over Now (Taylor’s Version) [From the Vault]” interrupted the command of “Cruel Summer.” The other acts to supplant themselves atop the chart: The Beatles, Boyz II Men, Puff Daddy, Ja Rule, Nelly, OutKast, Usher, T.I., The Black Eyed Peas, The Weeknd, Justin Bieber, Drake and BTS.
“All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” – at 10 minutes and 13 seconds in length (for its dominant version) – debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100 dated Nov. 27, 2021.
Swift boasts 59 Hot 100 top 10s. She first reached the region with “Change” on the chart dated Aug. 30, 2008, and upped her count to 59 on the May 4, 2024-dated chart, thanks to 10 from The Tortured Poets Department.
Swift has scored 165 top 40 Hot 100 hits. She first reached the region with her debut hit “Tim McGraw,” which peaked at No. 40 on the chart dated Jan. 13, 2007.
Marking a week that Casey Kasem would surely have had fun counting down, Swift banked 26 top concurrent 40 Hot 100 hits on the May 4, 2024-dated Hot 100, all from The Tortured Poets Department.
Swift has sent 264 songs onto the Hot 100. Notably, eight have peaked at her signature number, 13: “Teardrops on My Guitar,” “White Horse” (both in 2008), “Ours” (2011), “State of Grace” (2012), “Gorgeous” (2017), “The Last Great American Dynasty” (2020), “Mastermind” (2022) and “The Alchemy” (2024).
Swift crowned Billboard’s year-end Top Artists charts in 2009, 2015, 2023 and 2024, becoming the first act with four annual titles (dating to the category’s 1981 inception).
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