Taylor Swift is making history following the release of her twelfth studio album, The Life of a Showgirl.
According to Billboard, via Luminate, Swift’s latest record has sold over 3.5 million album units, a combination of 3.2 million copies of the album and 300,000 units from streaming.
Adele had held the record for biggest album in a single week for close to a decade when she released 25 in December 2015 and sold 3.482 million units.
The “Wood” singer only took five days to break the record, which means her final first-week sales will be much higher.
Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl has received mixed reviews from both critics and Swifties. In a recent interview, the singer-songwriter addressed the criticism her latest album had been receiving.
“I welcome the chaos. The rule of show business is if it’s the first week of my album release and you are saying either my name or my album title, you’re helping,” she said on Apple Music’s The Zane Lowe Show. “And art, I have a lot of respect for people’s subjective opinions on art. I’m not the art police. It’s like everybody is allowed to feel exactly how they want. And what our goal is as entertainers is to be a mirror.”
Initial reaction to Swift’s latest album could shift with time, though. The singer explained that she has experienced fans telling her they love an album years after its release.
“What I often love seeing my fans say is, ‘I used to be someone who didn’t relate to Reputation. And now that I’ve been through some other things in my life, that’s my favorite album.’ Or, ‘I used to be a Fearless girlie, now I’m obsessed with Evermore.’ We’re doing this thing for keeps,” Swift said. “I have such an eye on legacy when I’m making my music. I know what I made. I know I adore it, and I know that on the theme of what the Showgirl is, all of this is part of it.”