BECOMES FIRST ARTIST TO ACHIEVE THREE SIMULTANEOUS #1 DEBUTS ON BILLBOARD 200 AND HOT 100 CHART
MOVES OVER 1.2 MILLION ALBUM EQUIVALENTS GLOBALLY IN FIRST WEEK
LARGEST VINYL ALBUM SALES WEEK SINCE SHE LAST BROKE THE RECORD WITH EVERMORE
10 MINUTE VERSION OF “ALL TOO WELL” BECOMES LONGEST RUNNING SONG TO EVER ENTER AND HIT #1 ON THE BILLBOARD HOT 100
TELEVISION TAKEOVER: THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JIMMY FALLON, LATE NIGHT WITH SETH MEYERS, GOOD MORNING AMERICA& SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE
NEW YORK, NY (November 22, 2021) – Taylor Swift has made history once again presenting the definitive version of her 2012 classic, Red (Taylor’s Version). Marking her 10th album to move over 1 Million album equivalents during its release week and arriving toworldwide critical acclaim, Red (Taylor’s Version) adds a brilliant new chapter to her legacy.
Red (Taylor’s Version) boasts a staggering 30 songs, including nine previously unreleased tracks – “Better Man (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault),” “Nothing New (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” [feat. Phoebe Bridgers], “Babe (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault),” “Message in a Bottle (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault),” “I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” [feat. Chris Stapleton], “Forever Winter (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault),” “Run (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” [feat. Ed Sheeran], “The Very First Night (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault),” and “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” [10 Minute Version].
Red (Taylor’s Version) debuted at #1 in the U.S. with total consumption reaching an astounding 605k units, while moving over 1.2 Million album equivalents globally in its first week. It also marked the biggest album sales debut in the U.S. with 369k units and the highest first week sales of any female artist in 2021.
In addition to being the first artist ever to simultaneously debut atop the Billboard 200 and Billboard Hot 100, Taylor has now become the only artist to do so for a third time, and in less than 16 months! Taylor’s new version of “All Too Well” marks her fourth #1 debut on the Billboard Hot 100. Clocking in at over 10 minutes, it is the longest song to enter and reach #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, surpassing the previous record holder, Don McLean’s “American Pie,” which was first released in 1971 with a run time of 8 minutes and 42 seconds. Red (Taylor’s Version) also sees an astounding 26 songs enter the Billboard Hot 100 this week, all from the new release.
Upon going live, Red (Taylor’s Version) surpassed Spotify’s biggest opening day streams of all-time for a female with over 90 Million, a record previously held by Taylor herself. It’s Taylor’s fifth consecutive album to exceed 50 Million Spotify streams in 24 hours. With over 300 million streams, the album has achieved the largest streaming week of 2021 for an album by a female artist. Red (Taylor’s Version) immediately captured #1 on iTunes Overall Top Albums Chart and Apple Music.
Red (Taylor’s Version) also secured the biggest streaming week for a country album with the largest sales week for a country album since 2013, becoming the biggest release week for a country album since the Billboard 200 began ranking titles by equivalent album units. “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” also hits #1 on the Hot Country Songs chart. It debuts as Swift’s ninth Hot Country Songs leader and her second this year, after “Love Story (Taylor’s Version).”
What’s more, it has achieved the largest vinyl album sales week since tracking first began in 1991 with 114k sold, surpassing the last record that was also set by Taylor in 2021 with folklore’s sister album, evermore. With the release of Red (Taylor’s Version) she also secures the record for fastest accumulation of four #1 albums by a solo artist in history.
Red (Taylor’s Version) debuted at #1 in multiple countries around the world including the U.K.- where she topped first week numbers set by the original version of the album, Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, and Norway. “All Too Well” also debuted at #1 in Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and more.
Taylor Swift now has an unbroken streak of eight consecutive No.1 albums in the UK, where this release marks her fifth #1 album in less than three years following Lover (August 2019), Folklore (August 2020), Evermore (December 2020) and Fearless (Taylor’s Version) (April 2021). Red (Taylor’s Version) has also become her tenth #1 album debut in both Canada and New Zealand, her ninth #1 in Australia and her seventh #1 in Ireland, extending her record as the woman with the most chart-topping albums in these countries for this millennium.
To celebrate the release, Taylor wrote and directed a short film entitled All Too Well The Short Film, inspired by the 10-minute-plus fan favorite song of the same name. The 13-minute film stars Sadie Sink, Dylan O’Brien and Taylor Swift.
She also launched a full-scale television takeover appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (watch HERE), Late Night With Seth Meyers (watch HERE), Good Morning America (watch HERE) and Saturday Night Live (watch HERE)- where she performed a captivating 10 minute version of “All Too Well” that lit the internet on fire along with a digital skit (watch HERE).
Photo Credit: Mary Ellen Matthews
The excitement continued with the release of the official music video for “I Bet You Think About Me (Taylor’s Version) (From The Vault)” [feat. Chris Stapleton]. The cinematic release was directed and co-written by Blake Lively and stars actor Miles Teller and Taylor(watch HERE).
SEE WHAT CRITICS ARE SAYING ABOUT RED (TAYLOR’S VERSION):
“5 Stars” – Rolling Stone, Rob Sheffield
“‘Red (Taylor’s Version)’ Makes a Classic Even Better” – Rolling Stone, Rob Sheffield
“Another towering victory, which should be coveted by fans…” – SPIN, Bobby Oliver
“5 Stars” – Rolling Stone UK, Mark Sutherland
“The most beautifully reconstructed pop record of 2021.” – Rolling Stone UK, Mark Sutherland
“5 Stars” – The Independent, Helen Brown
“A better, brighter version of a terrific pop album.” – The Independent, Helen Brown
“4 Stars” – The Guardian, Laura Snapes
“Best New Album” – Pitchfork, Olivia Horn
“4 Stars” – NME, Hannah Mylrea
“…her rerecorded triumph” – USA Today, Melissa Ruggieri
“Taylor Swift’s Red Rerelease Proves What Fans Always Knew” – Slate, Ilana Kaplan
“4 Stars” – The Sun
“The superstar is back today with her brilliant album Red (Taylor’s Version)” – The Sun, Simon Boyle
“An assertion of her control in the face of men who believe they own her art, it is also a vindication of the original record’s enduring power.” Sarah Carson The I Newspaper
“9/10” – Clash Magazine, Beth Kirkbride
“As ‘Red (Taylor’s Version)’ shows, this is an exercise in catharsis. Leafing back through the storybook of our own formative years, we feel it all.” – Clash Magazine, Beth Kirkbride
“4 Stars” – i Newspaper, Kate Solomon
“Red (Taylor’s Version) is a reminder of just how brilliant Taylor Swift can be…” – i Newspaper, Kate Solomon
“4 Stars” – The Times, Will Hodgkinson
“Red, her fourth full-length released in 2012, is different — an indispensable fan favorite, with songs so personal to Swift and crucial to unlocking her mass appeal that it’s hard to imagine her current artistry without it.” – Billboard, Jason Lipshutz
“9/10” – The Line Of Best Fit, Paul Bridgewater
“Taylor Swift’s reworking of Red finds even more magic in her pop blueprint” – The Line of Best Fit, Paul Bridgewater
“Over forlorn acoustic guitars, insistent drums and a halting piano, Swift wove together a collage of memories so vivid that loss was renewed fresh.” – NPR, Latesha Harris
“Casual fans and diehard Swifties alike are struggling to contain themselves.” – Huffington Post, Hilary Hanson
“4 Stars” – The Financial Times
“Taylor Swift has arrived at her breakthrough moment” … “All Too Well, an evocative memory of the good times that stands out as Swift’s heartbreak opus.” The Times, Will Hodgkinson
Red’s Taylor is more mature, a little more wary, but never jaded; the record isn’t just her transition from country to mainstream, it’s also her journey into adulthood. – Evening Standard, Kate Rosseinsky
“4 Stars” – The i, Kate Solomon
“It’s both an interesting peek behind the curtain of a time in a young woman’s life and proof that Swift knows exactly how to formulate a cohesive album. The famously observant and obsessive Swifties will find the tweaks to the originals a thrill to explore: for the casual among us Red (Taylor’s Version) is a reminder of just how brilliant Taylor Swift can be when her heart is in tatters.” – The i, Kate Solomon
“Anyone else write a dramatic email to their boss this morning asking for—nay, DEMANDING—time off from work to emotionally come down from Taylor Swift releasing Red (Taylor’s Version)? Cool, same, glad I’m not alone.” – Cosmopolitan, Mehera Bonner
“Taylor Swift is a force of nature.” – HITS
“The artist’s ability to move the needle, particularly with her ultra-devoted fans, is unprecedented, as she motivates them to buy new versions of prior releases in astounding numbers.” – HITS
SEE WHAT CRITICS ARE SAYING ABOUT SNL & ALL TOO WELL THE SHORT FILM
“Taylor Swift Stuns With 10-Minute Version of ‘All Too Well’ on ‘SNL’” – Billboard, Mitchell Peters
“On SNL, Taylor Swift Stopped Time.” – The Atlantic, Spencer Kornhaber
“Taylor Swift got only one song on the show, but boy did she make it count…” – The New York Times, Dave Itzkoff
“Taylor Swift sang the 10-minute ‘All Too Well’ on ‘SNL’ and we’re not fine at all.” – Los Angeles Times, Christi Carras
“Taylor Swift paralyzed time with the live television debut of her expanded version of “All Too Well”” – Rolling Stone, Ilana Kaplan
“Taylor Swift Absolutely Stuns On ‘SNL’ With Debut Of Full 10-Minute ‘All Too Well’” – The Huffington Post, Mary Papenfuss
“The singer-songwriter’s epic performance of “All Too Well” wins all breakups, forever.” – AV Club, Dennis Perkins
“Just Give In to the Exquisite Sappiness of “All Too Well”” – Vogue, Sarah Spellings
“Taylor Swift stole the Saturday Night Live spotlight.” – ET Online, Zach Seemayer
“I have seen All Too Well the short film, and the grade I would give it is an A+” Variety, Ramin Setoodeh
