Perhaps Swift was tempting fate with this one. Above all else in her career, Swift has always found acclaim through her lyricism, and comparisons have gleefully been made between herself and The Bard. Speaking in February, she says that “I have never had an album where I needed songwriting more than I needed it on [TTPD]”. It’s surprising, then, that ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ delivers some of her most cringe-inducing lines yet. - Read the full review on NME
Yesterday, Swift announced “Fortnight” as the single, and the video arrives tonight at 8PM EST. “I’ve been such a huge fan of Post because of the writer he is, his musical experimentation and those melodies he creates that just stick in your head forever,” she wrote on X. “I got to witness that magic come to life firsthand when we worked together on Fortnight.”
Taylor Swift, The Tortured Poets Department: a sharp, savage attack on her British exes
Upon its release tonight Swift shared this statement:
The Tortured Poets Department. An anthology of new works that reflect events, opinions and sentiments from a fleeting and fatalistic moment in time – one that was both sensational and sorrowful in equal measure. This period of the author’s life is now over, the chapter closed and boarded up. There is nothing to avenge, no scores to settle once wounds have healed. And upon further reflection, a good number of them turned out to be self-inflicted. This writer is of the firm belief that our tears become holy in the form of ink on a page. Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it.
And then all that’s left behind is the tortured poetry.
In a video posted to Swift’s Instagram Story, an unseen writer hammers the following message onto typewriter paper: “Crowd goes wild at her fingertips. Half moonshine, full eclipse.”
At this hearing, I stand before my fellow members of The Tortured Poets Department with a summary of my findings.
Album tonight.
Fortnight music video tomorrow at 8pm et.https://t.co/BAtr2MpPIs pic.twitter.com/hWsrsXSQuW— Taylor Swift (@taylorswift13) April 19, 2024
It’s probably safe to assume that the line was taken from one of the 16 tracks on Tortured Poets, or one of the four bonus songs set to appear on Swift’s deluxe variants of the album. It’s only fitting that she unveiled the lyric on the day of the 2024 total solar eclipse, a celestial phenomenon that last occurred in 2021 and won’t happen again — at least in a way that’s visible from the United States — until 2044.
Taylor Swift Confirmed by IFPI as Biggest-Selling Artist of the Year
The unique award is calculated according to an artist’s or group’s worldwide sales across streaming, download and physical music formats during the calendar year and covers their entire body of work. The award is presented to the artist finishing #1 in IFPI’s Global Artist Chart, which was also released today.
This year marks the 11th year of the IFPI Global Recording Artist of the Year Award, with Taylor Swift having topped the chart more than any other artist during that time (her 2023 win following successes in 2014, 2019 and 2022). This latest win follows a stellar year in which the artist has seen three albums (Midnights and the Taylor’s Version releases of the Speak Now and 1989 albums) top the charts, and the record-breaking Eras tour lift engagement with her entire catalogue on streaming platforms around the world. This phenomenon was demonstrated by the resurgence of the track Cruel Summer, initially released in 2019 but which topped charts around the world four years later.
Taylor Swift Breaks Elvis’ Record For Most Weeks At No.1, Swift has now spent more weeks at No.1 than any solo artist in history.
With 1989 (Taylor’s Version) once again landing at the top spot on Billboard 200 this week, Taylor Swift has surpassed Elvis Presley for the most No.1 weeks of any solo musician in music history.
Shop the best of Taylor Swift’s discography on vinyl and more.
To date, Swift has logged 68 weeks with the No.1 album in America. That number tops Elvis’ previous record of 67 weeks at the top of the charts. Now, Swift sits behind only The Beatles, who spent 132 weeks at No.1 over the course of their career. It was just last week that Swift tied second place record for most weeks spent at the top of the charts.
2023 has been quite the year for Taylor Swift. Not only has she has released both Speak Now (Taylor's Version), and 1989 (Taylor's Version); she has embarked on a record breaking The Eras Tour and released a concert film Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour; tied with Drake for the most Billboard Music Awards wins of all time; made history as the first female artist with four albums sitting in the top ten of Billboard's music chart; and was invited to join the Oscars' Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. (thelineofbestfit report)
Swift’s and Presley’s 67 weeks spent at No. 1 puts them far ahead of the rest of the pack. In fourth place for the most weeks at No. 1 is Garth Brooks, who reigned for 52 weeks, followed in fifth place by Michael Jackson, who did it for 51.
Swift’s chart leader moved 136,000 units this week, between album sales and equivalent streaming data, per Luminate — a 25% uptick from the previous week. “Pink Friday 2,” from Minaj, landed a still-impressive 100,000 units in week two, after previously bowing with 220,000.
This week marked the 67th week that Swift has had an album in the top of the charts. Elvis Presley previously held the record, which Swift has now matched. Due to vinyl sales for Christmas, 1989 (Taylor's Version) has found itself back at the top of the charts alongside Midnights, which is at number three in the charts, and Lover, which is currently at number seven.
The Beatles are the overall record holders for the artists with the most weeks spent on the album chart, at 132 weeks.
