Taylor Swift Beats Charli XCX To No. 1 On U.K. Charts With New ‘Tortured Poets Department’ Versions

Topline

Taylor Swift won yet another chart battle with her juggernaut “The Tortured Poets Department,” securing a sixth week at No. 1 in the United Kingdom after she released new versions of the album with exclusive bonus tracks—but some fans believe the new versions were a ploy to block Charli XCX and Bon Jovi, who previously led the race to No. 1.

Key Facts

Key Background

Swift has previously raised eyebrows among fans of other artists—particularly those of Billie Eilish—for releasing additional versions of “The Tortured Poets Department,” helping earn her additional weeks atop the charts. Though Swift easily dominated the Billboard 200 chart for a month after the album’s April 19 release, she faced stiff competition for No. 1 in its fifth week from Billie Eilish’s new release, “Hit Me Hard And Soft.” Swift sold three new versions of “The Tortured Poets Department,” only available for purchase on May 16 and 17 (the latter being Eilish’s album release date), each with a demo version of a different track on the album. Eilish then released additional versions of her album with a cappella vocals, as well as sped-up and slowed-down versions, while Swift dropped a remix to her hit “Fortnight.” With just hours left in the tracking week, Swift released three new digital versions of the album, each with a new live track from her “Eras Tour” performances in Paris. Swift ultimately prevailed, and Eilish’s album peaked at No. 2. The hustle for No. 1 came amid a fan-driven rivalry that heated up when Eilish told Billboard in March that artists who release “f–king 40 different vinyl packages that have a different unique thing just to get you to keep buying more” are “wasteful.” Some fans interpreted this as a dig at Swift, who has long released various vinyl editions for her albums, often in different colors or with bonus tracks. Eilish clarified in an Instagram story post she “wasn’t singling anyone out” and instead criticized “industry-wide systemic issues.”

Chief Critics

Swift’s many “Tortured Poets Department” releases have drawn the ire of fans who say Swift blocked their favorite artist on the charts—and from others who think the additional versions are just a cash grab. Writer and Pitchfork critic Shaad D’Souza wrote in a column for The Guardian that Swift has sparked controversy with her album drops because “she’s done it so many times, in so many different flavours, to the point that even the most apologetic fans have reached the end of their tether.” He noted Swift’s “Tortured Poets Department” versions help her “best smaller artists – and, notably, smaller female artists” on the charts, while praising Charli XCX’s album—which is the best-reviewed album of 2024, according to Metacritic—as having “captured the cultural zeitgeist.” Swift faced criticism from pop music fans on social media: A post calling her Thursday “Tortured Poets” drop “comically embarrassing” was like more than 16,000 times, while another X user garnered nearly 80,000 likes accusing Swift of being a “fame-hungry and stats-obsessed ‘artist.’”

Further Reading

Taylor Swift earns longest-running UK Number 1 album with The Tortured Poets Department (U.K. Official Charts)

Taylor Swift Could Block Billie Eilish From Debuting New Album At No. 1 As Fan Rivalry Grows (Forbes)