Right now in America, Taylor Swift's "1989 (Taylor's Version)" album is still the number one record. On certain occassions, some album would dethrone her - but not enough to remove her from the charts nor deny the fact that it continues to be one of the most-listened to albums in the US.
Morgan Wallen's One Thing at a Time will dethrone Swift's set as the number one song on the Billboard 200, but for the time being, a cursory glance at the weekly ranking of the most-listened-to albums in the United States indicates that Swift's most recent release is still in the lead.
The original version of 1989 (Taylor's Version) is not only still number one on the Billboard 200, but it is actually getting stronger as the song continues to dominate, as Forbes reported.
That fact almost defies logic, since one would think that the existence and remarkable popularity of the new version would make the previous one obsolete.
However, Swift's fan base and listening preferences seem to indicate otherwise. The first 1989 appears this week at number one on the Billboard 200.
The album, which assisted Swift in formally making the switch from country to pop, defies expectations by shooting to the top of the list of the most-listened to albums in the United States once more.
"For the record, this is my very first documented, official pop album," she said while announcing the project atop the Empire State Building in a livestream hosted by Yahoo.
Later, she explained to Billboard, "I followed my gut instinct and tried not to think about how hard it would be to break it to country radio... I didn't want to break anyone's heart."
Swift is re-recording her first six albums and putting them out to public release under a slightly different title as part of a multi-year project, in an attempt to reclaim some authority over the songs that catapulted her to global fame. She is now expecting that fans will purchase and stream the re-recorded versions of her albums, which will help her both financially and on the charts, after the rights to her early works were sold. The plan is operating flawlessly thus far.
Taylor has had great success with all four of the re-recordings she has put out: 1989 (Taylor's Version), Speak Now (Taylor's Version), Fearless (Taylor's Version), and most recently Red (Taylor's Version). They've all topped the Billboard 200 at least once, and they've given her a ton of brand-new Hot 100 hits.
Swift may find even more significance in the fact that her re-recorded versions of her early albums have essentially knocked the originals off the charts-at least according to the Billboard 200. Currently, all four of her re-recordings are number one on the chart, but very few of the original versions are still in circulation.
These songs were swiftly superseded by their more recent, Swift-endorsed counterparts, which no longer frequently made the list of the most-listened to albums in the United States. That is, if 1989 is excluded.
