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Taylor Swift’s Midnights returns to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Nov. 26) for a third nonconsecutive week on top, as the set rebounds 2-1 in its fourth week on the list. It earned 204,000 equivalent album units in the U.S. in the week ending Nov. 17 (down 32%), according to Luminate. The album spent its first two weeks atop the list, then stepped aside for one week when Drake and 21 Savage’s Her Loss bowed at No. 1.
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Midnights is the first album to earn at least 200,000 units in each of its first four weeks of release since Adele’s 25 saw its first six weeks reach 200,000-plus (Dec. 12, 2015–Jan. 16, 2016).
Also in the new Billboard 200’s top 10: Louis Tomlinson lands his highest charting album with the No. 5 debut of Faith in the Future, Bruce Springsteen achieves his 22nd top 10-charting effort with the No. 8 arrival of Only the Strong Survive, and Nas captures his 16th top 10 with King’s Disease III’s bow at No. 10.
The Billboard 200 chart ranks the most popular albums of the week in the U.S. based on multi-metric consumption as measured in equivalent album units, compiled by Luminate. Units comprise album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA) and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Each unit equals one album sale, or 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The new Nov. 26, 2022-dated chart will be posted in full on Billboard‘s website on Tuesday (Nov. 22). For all chart news, follow @billboard and @billboardcharts on both Twitter and Instagram.
Of Midnights’ 204,000 equivalent album units earned, SEA units comprise 140,000 (down 19%, equaling 184.04 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks), album sales comprise 60,000 (down 36%) and SEA units comprise 4,000 (down 88%).
After debuting at No. 1, Drake and 21 Savage’s Her Loss falls to No. 2 in its second week with 170,000 equivalent album units earned (down 58%). Two fellow former No. 1s are next on the list, as Bad Bunny’s Un Verano Sin Ti rises 4-3 (56,000; down 3%) and Lil Baby’s It’s Only Me dips 3-4 (52,000; down 15%).
Tomlinson’s second solo album, Faith in the Future, debuts at No. 5 on the Billboard 200, securing the pop artist his highest-charting effort and his best week yet in terms of both equivalent album units earned (43,000) and traditional album sales (37,500). It surpasses his previous high-water mark, logged with the No. 9 debut and peak of his first album Walls (Feb. 15, 2020, chart; 39,000 units — of which album sales comprised 35,000).
As album sales comprise 37,500 of Faith’s total first-week units, the remainder consists of SEA units (5,500; equaling 7.27 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks) and a negligible amount of TEA units.
Faith’s first-week sales figure was bolstered by its availability across multiple collectible physical variants of the album. The set was preceded by the single “Bigger Than Me,” which became Tomlinson’s fourth solo hit on the Pop Airplay chart (outside his tenure in One Direction).
Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping Dangerous: The Double Album is a non-mover on the Billboard 200 at No. 6 (41,000 equivalent album units earned; down 1%) while The Weeknd’s The Highlights is also steady at No. 7 (40,000; up 2%).
Springsteen achieves his 22 nd top 10-charting album on the Billboard 200 as his new covers set, Only the Strong Survive, debuts at No. 8 with 39,500 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, traditional album sales comprise 36,500, SEA units comprise 2,000 (equaling 2.87 million on-demand streams of the set’s tracks) and TEA units comprise 1,000. The soul and R&B covers collection includes Springsteen’s takes on such oldies as The Commodores’ “Night Shift,” Jimmy Ruffin’s “What Becomes of the Brokenhearted” and Diana Ross & The Supremes’ “Someday We’ll Be Together.”
With a 22nd top 10 album on the Billboard 200, Springsteen now solely has the eighth-most top 10s overall and the sixth-most top 10s among solo artists.
Here’s an updated look at all the acts with at least 20 top 10 albums on the Billboard 200 from March 24, 1956, when the list began publishing on a regular, weekly basis, through the latest chart, dated Nov. 26, 2022.
Most Billboard 200 Top 10s:37, The Rolling Stones34, Barbra Streisand32, The Beatles32, Frank Sinatra27, Elvis Presley23, Bob Dylan23, Madonna22, Bruce Springsteen21, Elton John21, Paul McCartney/Wings21, George Strait20, Prince
(Notably, the Kidz Bop Kids music brand has collected 24 top 10s, in 2005-16, with its series of kid-friendly covers of hit singles. The franchise’s early albums were performed by mostly anonymous studio singers, although later releases focused on branding named talent.)
Harry Styles’ former No. 1 Harry’s House drops 8-9 on the new Billboard 200 with 30,000 equivalent album units (down less than 1%).
Nas rounds out the top 10 as his latest release King’s Disease III starts at No. 10 with 29,000 equivalent album units earned. Of that sum, SEA units comprise 20,000 (equaling 26.47 million on-demand official streams of the set’s tracks), album sales comprise 8,500 and TEA units comprise 500.
King’s Disease III is the third in the King’s Disease series — the first two albums debuted and peaked at Nos. 5 and 3 in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
King’s Disease III marks Nas’ 16th top 10 on the Billboard 200, tying him with Jay-Z for the most top 10s among rap artists. Nas’ first top 10 came with It Was Written in 1996 (No. 1 for four weeks). Jay-Z logged his first top 10 in 1997 with In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 (No. 3) and last notched a new top 10 set with 4:44 in 2017 (No. 1 for two weeks).
Luminate, the independent data provider to the Billboard charts, completes a thorough review of all data submissions used in compiling the weekly chart rankings. Luminate reviews and authenticates data. In partnership with Billboard, data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is removed, using established criteria, before final chart calculations are made and published.
How did Taylor Swift‘s 2023 Eras tour presale turn so calamitous? Ticketmaster service delays and website crashes outraged fans trying to buy tickets to the superstar’s 2023 tour this week, causing widespread outcry and condemnation for the ticket service as high up as Congress. And, finally, on Thursday (Nov. 17), company officials announced they had decided to cancel the general ticket sale scheduled for Friday — blaming a surge of unregistered fans and billions of bots for the failure.
Fans already bought up more than 90% of the ticketing inventory on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to Ticketmaster, breaking the record Tuesday for the most tickets ever sold in a single day by a touring artist at 2 million. But with that success came catastrophe. More than 3.5 million fans registered for the chance to buy Swift tickets, and 1.5 million were invited to participate in Tuesday’s ticket sale for a crack at seats on the 52-date tour. Company officials say, however, it wasn’t pre-registered fans buying tickets who caused the crash on Tuesday, but that tens of millions of uninvited fans and billions of bots trying to access the sale early were to blame.
A Wednesday presale for Capital One card holders again brought a second unreported massive traffic of traffic to the site, as millions of fans — most without presale codes or an invitation — again tried to flood the presale meant only for a few hundred thousand card holders.
With little inventory left and even bigger crowds expected Friday, on Thursday Ticketmaster and Swift’s team decided to cancel the final onsale. It’s unclear how the remaining ticketing inventory will be distributed or sold. Meanwhile, the bad press has brought unwanted attention to the ticket giant.
Earlier Thursday, in an open letter to Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino, Sen. Amy Klobuchar, chair of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer Rights, argued that “Ticketmaster’s power in the primary ticket market insulates it from the competitive pressures that typically push companies to innovate and improve their services,” resulting in “dramatic service failures,” like the crash of Tuesday’s Taylor Swift sale.
Hours after the letter surfaced, Ticketmaster published a blog on its website offering an in-depth explanation of what caused the Swift presale to crash. Ticketmaster’s explanation for the crash — that it misjudged demand for presale tickets and was ill-prepared for the millions of fans that tried to log in — is not likely to satisfy Klobuchar and the bi-partisan criticism that the company is cutting corners due to it’s massive marketshare in the concert space.
According to Ticketmaster, about 3.5 million fans pre-registered for Taylor’s Verified Fan program — “the largest registration in history,” the company’s blog claims. The huge amount of demand “informed the artist team’s decision to add additional dates” to Taylor Swift’s Eras tour earlier this month, increasing the number of shows on sale from 26 to 52 stadium shows — 47 of which would be ticketed by Ticketmaster.
Despite doubling the number of shows that it was now selling tickets for, Ticketmaster didn’t increase the window of time it would need to process the large uptick in volume. That meant that instead of having 11 East Coast shows go on sale at the same time (10 a.m. EST), Ticketmaster was now putting 21 shows on sales at once.
Making matters worse, far more people showed up to buy tickets than was expected. On Monday night, the day before the presale, Ticketmaster sent out invitations to 1.5 million fans who had signed up for the presale with instruction on how to purchase tickets. “Historically, around 40% of invited fans actually show up and buy tickets,” according to Ticketmaster’s blog post, meaning Ticketmaster was only expecting about 600,000 people to actually try to log in. Not only did far more invitees show up, millions more uninvited guests tried to crash the party. Ticketmaster estimates that with uninvited guests and massive armies of bots, about 3.5 billion requests were made requesting access to the presale, causing the system to meltdown.
Company officials ended up having to do what they probably should have done in the first place — pushing back the remaining sales to give the Ticketmaster team more time to deal with the traffic issues and high demand. About 15% of fans attempting to buy Swift tickets experienced some type of disruption while trying to buy tickets or were unable to do so because of the site crash, according to the Ticketmaster blog. Still, the company did sell more than 2 million tickets that day — the most ever sold for a single artist in a day — and Ticketmaster has agreed to not allow Swift tickets to be sold on any of the secondary resale sites it controls, restricting markups to fans on its service.
Those hoping to snag tickets for Taylor Swift‘s 2023 Eras Tour during Friday’s public on-sale got some bad news on Thursday (Nov. 17), when Ticketmaster announced that it has since been canceled.
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“Due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand, tomorrow’s public on-sale for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour has been cancelled,” the ticketing service tweeted.
Due to extraordinarily high demands on ticketing systems and insufficient remaining ticket inventory to meet that demand, tomorrow’s public on-sale for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour has been cancelled.— Ticketmaster (@Ticketmaster) November 17, 2022
The cancellation is just the latest in a string of messy circumstances surrounding ticket sales for Swift’s highly anticipated tour. On Tuesday (Nov. 15), after an unprecedented number of fans went to Ticketmaster with presale codes in the hopes of buying tickets, Ticketmaster’s website experienced mass outages and extreme delays that caused some to wait for several hours in a virtual queue, just to walk away empty handed.
Ticketmaster then shared a statement shortly after 1 p.m. ET on Tuesday, about three hours after the East Coast venue presales began, noting that the company wasn’t prepared for the “historically” large demand for tickets, and postponed presales for West Coast venues and Capitol One cardholders scheduled for later that same day.
The wild demand for Eras Tour tickets had been apparent even leading up to the ticket sale, leading the “All Too Well” pop star to add 25 additional shows to her 27 original dates in the past couple weeks. Swift hasn’t hit the road since 2018, when she toured in support of her album, Reputation. She had planned to go out again after dropping 2019’s Lover for a series of stadium shows she dubbed Lover Fest, but the gigs were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Zoë Kravitz spilled the tea in a new interview about quarantining during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic with none other than Taylor Swift.
“She was my pod,” the actress told GQ of hunkering down with the superstar and her boyfriend Joe Alwyn as she filmed Matt Reeves’ The Batman in the U.K. “She was a very important part of being in London, just having a friend that I could see and that would make me home-cooked meals and dinner on my birthday.”
For her part, Swift had equally nice things to say about her pal, telling the magazine via email, “Zoë’s sense of self is what makes her such an exciting artist, and such an incredible friend. She has this very honest inner compass, and the result is art and life without compromising who she is.”
Part of that art included the duo collaborating on music, with Kravitz credited with co-writing and providing backing vocals on the opaque Midnights opener “Lavender Haze.” (The actress also sang backup on bonus cut “Glitch” from Midnights [3am Edition].)
When The Batman was released, Swift cheered on her friend in the role of Selina Kyle. “@zoeisabellakravitz IS THE CATWOMAN OF DREAMS,” the “Anti-Hero” singer wrote on her Instagram Stories at the time. “The Batman was PHENOMENAL!!!”
And though it has yet to officially see the light of day, Kravitz has already confirmed that, in addition to contributing to Midnights, she’s also recorded her debut solo album with Tay’s trusty producer of choice Jack Antonoff, which she described as feeling “vulnerable” and “a little scary.”
Read Kravitz’s full GQ interview here.
Taylor Swift brought fans a more mature version of “Red” with “Maroon,” off her new album Midnights.
With her 10th studio album, Swift made one of the most historic weeks in the 64-year history of the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, as she became the first artist to claim the survey’s entire top 10 in a single frame. “Maroon” came in at No. 3.
If you need a guide to follow along with Taylor Swift’s “Maroon,” find the lyrics below:
When the morning came we were cleaning incense off your vinyl shelf‘Cause we lost track of time againLaughing with my feet in your lapLike you were my closest friendHow’d we end up on the floor anyway? You say“Your roommate’s cheap-ass screw-top rosé, that’s how”I see you every day now
And I chose youThe one I was dancin’ withIn New York, no shoesLooked up at the sky and it was
The burgundy on my T-shirt when you splashed your wine into meAnd how the blood rushed into my cheeks, so scarlet, it wasThe mark you saw on my collarbone, the rust that grew between telephonesThe lips I used to call home, so scarlet, it was maroon
When the silence came, we were shaking blind and hazyHow the hell did we lose sight of us again?Sobbin’ with your head in your handsAin’t that the way shit always ends?You were standing hollow-eyed in the hallwayCarnations you had thought were roses, that’s usI feel you no matter whatThe rubies that I gave up
And I lost youThe one I was dancin’ withIn New York, no shoesLooked up at the sky and it was maroon
The burgundy on my T-shirt when you splashed your wine into meAnd how the blood rushed into my cheeks, so scarlet, it was (maroon)The mark you saw on my collarbone, the rust that grew between telephonesThe lips I used to call home, so scarlet, it was (maroon)
And I wake with your memory over meThat’s a real fucking legacy, legacy (it was maroon)And I wake with your memory over meThat’s a real fucking legacy to leave
The burgundy on my T-shirt when you splashed your wine into meAnd how the blood rushed into my cheeks, so scarlet (it was maroon)The mark you saw on my collarbone, the rust that grew between telephonesThe lips I used to call home, so scarlet (it was maroon)
It was maroonIt was maroon
Lyrics licensed & provided by LyricFind
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Jack Michael Antonoff, Taylor Alison Swift
Taylor Swift knows “All Too Well” what a Grammy nomination feels like, with 42 noms under her belt. But Tuesday’s (Nov. 15) announcement that the 10-minute version of her Red (Taylor’s Version) hit is up for song of the year meant something more to the star.
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Swift took to Instagram Stories following the news to share a screenshot from the song’s accompanying short film, which stars Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien. “So many reasons to lose my damn mind today but… All Too Well 10 is the song I’m the most proud of, out of anything I’ve written,” she wrote on top of the photo. “The fact that it’s nominated for Song of the Year at the Grammys, an award I’ve never won, that honors the songwriting… it’s momentous and surreal.”
The 11-time Grammy winner went on to say that she called Liz Rose, who co-wrote the song with Swift, noting that they “reminisced about how we started writing together when I was 14. She believed in me then and we are nominated together now. It’s just so cute I can’t cope.”
Swift concluded her message by writing, “I want to ramble about the magic and mystery of time and fate and reclaiming my art but instead I think I’ll go scream for ten minutes straight. And think about how this wouldn’t have happened without you.”
“All Too Well” was originally featured on Swift’s 2012 album, Red, which was one of the albums that Scooter Braun purchased when buying her her master recordings in 2019. She unveiled the re-recorded LP, Red (Taylor’s Version), in November 2021, which included the new, 10-minute version of “All Too Well.” The song went on to debut atop the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart.
See the full list of 2023 Grammy nominations here.
Drake was feeling a little petty with the release of the new Hot 100 tally on Monday (Nov. 14), and shared his thoughts cryptically via Instagram Stories.
The rapper shared the latest Hot 100 top 10 dated Nov. 19, 2022, in which he has eight debuts, including seven with 21 Savage, as the pair’s collaborative project Her Loss launches at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. However, the No. 1 spot remains Taylor Swift‘s “Anti-Hero” for a third week, and the No. 10 spot was taken by Sam Smith and Kim Petras‘ sultry collab, “Unholy.”
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In his screenshot, Drake left “Unholy” unscathed, but covered Swift’s achievement with a series of emojis. “@21savage congrats my brother,” he captioned the post. The “Midnight Rain” superstar has yet to respond to Drizzy’s “anti-hero” moment.
With Drake having claimed nine of the Hot 100’s top 10 spots on the chart for a week in September 2021 (concurrent with the chart start of his album Certified Lover Boy), he is now the only artist to have logged at least eight songs in the top 10 twice.
Two weeks ago, “Anti-Hero” soared in at the Hot 100’s summit, as Swift made history as the first artist to hold the survey’s entire top 10 in a single frame.
Back in April, Drake sent the Internet ablaze when he posted a throwback picture with Swift on his Instagram account. The snap is the last in a five-pic carousel with the motivational message: “They too soft to understand the meaning of hard work.”
‘Tis the season to be a Swiftie! Though Taylor Swift already gifted everyone a brand-new album in October with Midnights, as well as several new editions of tracks from the record-breaking LP, she’s ready to present something else her devoted fans will fawn over: holiday-themed merch.
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The “Anti-Hero” singer’s management team took to Twitter on Friday (Nov. 11) to provide fans with a status update about the official Taylor Swift merch store. “The #TSHolidayShop is available now at http://store.taylorswift.com (AKA: a shop-able Lover House)!” Taylor Nation shared, along with a video preview of items in the new holiday collection. “Tell us what rooms you’re picking out gifts and #TSTheErasTour outfits from Eras past and present.”
And truly, no era has been left behind. The website’s “Lover House” provides navigation to fans looking for merchandise from each era, starting with her 2006 self-titled album through the recently released Midnights. Swifties looking for more Christmas-related merchandise will find no shortage on the site, with multiple ornaments for her eras and singles, respectively (“Lover,” “Exile” and “Love Story” are among the few), snow globes, a “Christmas Tree” (farm) skirt and more.
As for apparel, cold-weather items make up a bulk of the offerings in the TS Holiday Shop — fans have their options of the “All Too Well” red scarf, as well as hats, sweaters, hoodies, zip-up pullover and sweatpants to choose from. Sorry, but there are no wearable “Cardigan(s)” available for purchase in the shop.
See the post from Taylor Nation about Swift’s new holiday merch drop below.
Taylor Swift played with vocal production on her Midnights track, “Midnight Rain,” a ode to the boy who searched for “comfortable” in the wrong place.
With her 10th studio album, Swift made one of the most historic weeks in the 64-year history of the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, as she became the first artist to claim the survey’s entire top 10 in a single frame. “Midnight Rain” came in at No. 5.
If you need a guide to follow along with Taylor Swift’s “Midnight Rain,” find the lyrics below:Rain, he wanted it comfortableI wanted that painHe wanted a brideI was making my own nameChasing that fameHe stayed the sameAll of me changed like midnight
My town was a wastelandFull of cages, full of fencesPageant queens and big pretendersBut for some it was paradise
My boy was a montageA slow-motion love potionJumping off things in the oceanI broke his heart ’cause he was niceHe was sunshine, I was midnight
Rain, he wanted it comfortableI wanted that painHe wanted a brideI was making my own nameChasing that fameHe stayed the sameAll of me changed like midnight
It came like a postcardPicture perfect, shiny familyHoliday peppermint candyBut for him it’s every day
So I peered through a windowA deep portal, time travelAll the love we unraveledAnd the life I gave away‘Cause he was sunshine, I was midnight
Rain, he wanted it comfortableI wanted that painHe wanted a brideI was making my own nameChasing that fameHe stayed the sameAll of me changed like midnight
Rain, he wanted it comfortableI wanted that painHe wanted a brideI was making my own nameChasing that fameHe stayed the sameAll of me changed like midnight
I guess sometimes we all getJust what we wanted, just what we wantedAnd he never thinks of meExcept when I’m on TV
I guess sometimes we all getSome kind of haunted, some kind of hauntedAnd I never think of himExcept on midnights like this(Midnight’s like this, midnight’s like this)
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Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Jack Michael Antonoff, Taylor Alison Swift
Taylor Swift introduced fans to the world of Midnights with the album’s opening track, “Lavender Haze,” a purple-hued love song.
With her 10th studio album, Swift made one of the most historic weeks in the 64-year history of the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, as she became the first artist to claim the survey’s entire top 10 in a single frame. “Lavender Haze” clocked in at No. 2, just behind lead single “Anti-Hero.”
If you need a guide to follow along with Taylor Swift’s “Lavender Haze,” find the lyrics below:
Meet me at midnight(Ooh, ooh, ooh, whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa)
Staring at the ceiling with youOh, you don’t ever say too muchAnd you don’t really read intoMy melancholia
I’ve been under scrutiny (yeah, oh yeah)You handle it beautifully (yeah, oh yeah)All this sh– is new to me (yeah, oh yeah)
I feel a lavender haze creeping up on meSo real, I’m damned if I do give a damn what people sayNo deal, the 1950s sh– they want from meI just wanna stay in that lavender haze(Ooh, ooh, whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa)
All they keep asking me (all they keep asking me)Is if I’m gonna be your brideThe only kind of girl they see (the only kind of girl they see)Is a one night or a wife
I find it dizzying (yeah, oh yeah)They’re bringing up my history (yeah, oh yeah)But you aren’t even listening (yeah, oh yeah)
I feel a lavender haze creeping up on meSo real, I’m damned if I do give a damn what people sayNo deal, the 1950s sh– they want from meI just wanna stay in that lavender haze (ooh, ooh, whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa)That lavender haze
Talk your talk and go viralI just need this love spiralGet it off your chestGet it off my desk (get it off my desk)Talk your talk and go viralI just need this love spiralGet it off your chestGet it off my desk
I feel (I feel) a lavender haze creeping up on meSo real, I’m damned if I do give a damn what people sayNo deal (no deal), the 1950s sh– they want from meI just wanna stay in that lavender haze(Ooh, ooh, whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa)
Get it off your chestGet it off my deskThat lavender hazeI just wanna stayI just wanna stayIn that lavender haze
Lyrics licensed & provided by LyricFind
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Jack Michael Antonoff, Jahaan Akil Sweet, Mark Anthony Spears, Samuel Joseph Dew, Taylor Alison Swift, Zoe I. Kravitz