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Taylor Swift’s ‘The Life of a Showgirl’ Nears Adele’s Record With Over 3.5 Million Units Sold

Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift’s latest album, The Life of a Showgirl, is on track to make history as it nears the modern-era single-week album sales record, currently held by Adele’s 25.

According to early data from tracking firm Luminate, the album has generated over 460 million on-demand official streams in the United States since its release on October 3. Multiple versions of the album — including a standard 12-song edition, commentary versions, and lyric video editions — have helped boost those numbers.

With 3.5 million equivalent album units earned in its first week, including 3.2 million in traditional sales, The Life of a Showgirl has already set a new modern-era record for the largest week by equivalent album units since Billboard began using that system in 2014. Adele’s 25 previously held the record with 3.48 million units in 2015.

Adele’s 25 remains the all-time leader for pure album sales, debuting with 3.378 million copies in its first week. However, Swift’s album continues to close in on that number, fueled by limited-edition CDs, vinyl LPs, cassettes, and exclusive iTunes versions. In total, 32 different versions of the album are available, contributing to its massive first-week tally.

Swift has also broken her own record for vinyl sales, selling 1.2 million copies on release day alone — surpassing her previous high of 859,000 with The Tortured Poets Department in 2024.

If The Life of a Showgirl debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart dated October 18, it will mark Swift’s 15th career No. 1 album, making her the solo artist with the most No. 1 albums in history — surpassing both Drake and JAY-Z. Only The Beatles have more, with 19 chart-toppers.

Billboard is expected to announce The Life of a Showgirl’s official first-week figures on Sunday, October 12, confirming what already looks like one of the most impressive album debuts of all time.

Sazid Kabir

I've loved music and writing all my life. That's why I started this blog. In my spare time, I make music and run this blog for fellow music fans.