“Red”, the fourth studio album from six-time Grammy Award winner Taylor Swift, was released worldwide on October 22nd, and the disc is already notching striking sales numbers and widespread critical acclaim.
The album topped the all-genre Top Albums chart at iTunes within 36 minutes of release, and first day sales at iTunes alone topped 262,000 albums. Taylor scored 13 of the Top 20 songs on iTunes, with the song “Everything Has Changed” taking the #1 position on the all-genre Top Songs chart.
Thus far, Red has sold 4.5 million song downloads at iTunes in the U.S. alone. At Target, Taylor’s Speak Now album had the highest one-week sales in the retailer’s history. Red has now set their record for Day One sales and is on pace to exceed Speak Now’s one week results.
Worldwide, Red reached #1 at iTunes on the first day of release in 32 countries, including the UK, Australia, Singapore, Brazil, Canada, Italy, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, Denmark, Venezuela, Thailand, and Ireland.
With Red, Taylor has set a new Billboard record – for the most rapid accumulation of 50 Hot 100 hits in history, reaching the milestone just six years and one month after her 2006 chart debut. Aretha Franklin previously held the record, with a stretch of just over 14 years and six months, and Taylor is one of only five women in the 54-year history of the chart to reach this milestone (joining Franklin, Madonna, Connie Francis, and Dionne Warwick).
Taylor Swift’s Red is also impressive in its widespread critical acclaim, garnering stellar praise from top critics around the globe.
Taylor is making multiple television appearances this week in support of Red. Her Times Square Concert this morning was the largest in the history of “Good Morning America,” and tonight she appears on “The Late Show with David Letterman” (CBS).
Today (10/24) she will be live on ABC’s “The View,” and on Thursday she will make a special concert appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.” On Friday, she will be a guest on ABC’s “Katie” with Katie Couric, and on Friday night she will be featured on ABC’s “All Access Nashville with Katie Couric – A Special Edition of 20/20″. Next week, Taylor will perform on ABC’s “Dancing With The Stars” (10/30) and also on the “41st Annual CMA Awards” on ABC (11/1).
Phew! But we wouldn’t mind watching her sing this over and over again, to be honest. Check out “Begin Again”, off her new album:
For more information, visit Taylor Swift’s Facebook page. And if you want to congratulate her for her album’s amazing success/send her love, she’s on Twitter!