Taylor Swift has surpassed Madonna as the female artist with the most UK Number One albums.
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Swift breaks the record with her latest live album ‘Lover (Live From Paris)’, which includes live performances from her 2019 studio LP, giving her her 13th Number One.
A live vinyl version was originally released in limited quantities for Valentine’s Day in 2023, but this year, a new heart-shaped double vinyl version was made available. The record sold 47,000 copies in the UK, making it the biggest opening week for an album so far in 2025.
It marks the second time Swift has achieved the Number One spot with an album not on streaming services – the last time being 2017’s ‘Reputation‘, which was only available to stream weeks after its release.
She’s now neck and neck with Elvis Presley, who also has 13 UK Number One albums. Ahead of her are the Rolling Stones, who have 14, and Robbie Williams and the Beatles in joint first place with 13.
In recent years, Swift has broken numerous records when it comes to vinyl sales. Her 11th album ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ topped the vinyl albums list for 2024, after selling a total of 112,000 LPs (via the Official Charts Company). No other album has shifted so many copies in its first year of release this century, with 66,000 of those sales taking place in its first week.
It marked the third consecutive year that Swift topped the vinyl albums chart in the UK – in 2023, ‘1989 (Taylor’s Version)’ was the Number One, while ‘Midnights’ took the top spot in 2022.
Those two albums also had a place in 2024’s charts, with the former sitting at Number 20 and the latter at Number 38. Three other Swift titles – ‘Lover’ (29), ‘Folklore’ (30) and ‘Evermore’ (36) – also take a space in the 2024 Top 40.
Last year it was also revealed that in 2023, one in every 15 vinyl records sold in the United States was by Swift.
In December, she also wrapped up her all-conquering ‘Eras’ World Tour with the final show in Vancouver on December 8, and it was certified as the highest-grossing tour of 2024 – beating off competition from Coldplay, Bruce Springsteen, The Rolling Stones, Madonna and more.
