Blog Post
And the hits just keep on coming for Taylor Swift
It may be just a tad too early to start referring to Taylor Swift as Star of the Century, but… Well, she is entering the history books this week, claiming the Billboard record for the longest-charting album so far this millennium. No kidding.
Taylor’s self-titled debut CD, released in October 2006, currently is spending its 
157th week on Billboard’s Top 200 album chart – more weeks than any other album this decade. (The previously record-holder: Nickelback.) Taylor also holds the Billboard record for most Top 10 debuts in a calendar year. And she is the only solo female act in the history of the Billboard Country Chart to score five – count ‘em, five! – Top 10 singles from a debut album.
Her list of outstanding accomplishments doesn’t end there. With Big Machine Records’ release of the CD/DVD Fearless: Platinum Edition, Taylor locked down five of the Top 10 singles positions on iTunes’ all-genre singles chart, as well as seven of iTunes’ Top 10 Country singles, including the entire Top 6. Fearless, named 2009’s Album of the Year by the Academy of Country Music, originally was released in November 2008. Now quadruple-platinum in the US, Fearless has earned Gold or Platinum status in 16 countries spanning five continents, and spent more weeks in the No. 1 position atop Billboard’s Top 200 all-genre CD sales chart than any other album this decade. What can she do for an encore? Funny you should ask: After demonstrating her comedic flair last June during the Country Music Television Awards telecast, Taylor is ready to go for some seriously big laughs. So she’s hosting Saturday Night Live this weekend – specifically Nov. 7 – as well as serving as the show’s musical guest. This puts her in some pretty prestigious company – only a few other artists (including Sting, Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake) ever have pulled double duty on SNL. And the last time a female country artist was tapped to both host and perform was twenty years ago – when Dolly Parton did the honors.
157th week on Billboard’s Top 200 album chart – more weeks than any other album this decade. (The previously record-holder: Nickelback.) Taylor also holds the Billboard record for most Top 10 debuts in a calendar year. And she is the only solo female act in the history of the Billboard Country Chart to score five – count ‘em, five! – Top 10 singles from a debut album.Her list of outstanding accomplishments doesn’t end there. With Big Machine Records’ release of the CD/DVD Fearless: Platinum Edition, Taylor locked down five of the Top 10 singles positions on iTunes’ all-genre singles chart, as well as seven of iTunes’ Top 10 Country singles, including the entire Top 6. Fearless, named 2009’s Album of the Year by the Academy of Country Music, originally was released in November 2008. Now quadruple-platinum in the US, Fearless has earned Gold or Platinum status in 16 countries spanning five continents, and spent more weeks in the No. 1 position atop Billboard’s Top 200 all-genre CD sales chart than any other album this decade. What can she do for an encore? Funny you should ask: After demonstrating her comedic flair last June during the Country Music Television Awards telecast, Taylor is ready to go for some seriously big laughs. So she’s hosting Saturday Night Live this weekend – specifically Nov. 7 – as well as serving as the show’s musical guest. This puts her in some pretty prestigious company – only a few other artists (including Sting, Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake) ever have pulled double duty on SNL. And the last time a female country artist was tapped to both host and perform was twenty years ago – when Dolly Parton did the honors.
