Taylor Swift’s “The Tortured Poets Department” Maintains Top Billboard 200 Position for 12 Consecutive Weeks, Breaking Record Previously Held by the Late Whitney Houston

Taylor Swift continues to rack up milestones amid the historic sales her latest album The Tortured Poets Department has amassed.

The latest release from the Grammy-winning artist, 34, who performed in Milan, Italy over the weekend, topped the Billboard 200 chart for the 12th straight week for the week ending July 20, according to Billboard on Sunday.

The album’s dozen weeks in the top spot since its release April 19 marks a personal record for the musical superstar, whose previous releases 1989 and Fearless each debuted with 11 weeks in the top spot.

It also surpassed a previous record held by late musical legend Whitney Houston, whose second album Whitney was previously the longest-running record ever from a female artist to debut in the top spot in 1987 and spend 11 weeks there.

Houston’s album, which featured the hit I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me), debuted on the Billboard chart for the week of June 27, 1987 and spent 11 weeks in the top spot, according to the outlet.

Taylor Swift, 34, continues to rack up milestones amid the historic sales her latest album The Tortured Poets Department has amassed. Pictured Saturday performing in Milan, Italy

The album’s dozen weeks in the top spot since its release April 19 marks a personal record for Swift, whose previous releases 1989 and Fearless each debuted with 11 weeks in the top spot.

For the week concluding July 11, The Tortured Poets Department sold a total of 163,000 equivalent album units in the U.S., according to statistics from Luminate.

Album sales were up 43 percent for the record, which first was on top of Billboard’s chart for the week of May 4.

The Tortured Poets Department remains in rare company in regards to records that spent a minimum of 12 weeks in the top spot on the chart.

The others are One Thing at a Time from country singer Morgan Wallen, which was number one for its initial 12 weeks and would rack up 19 overall weeks in the top spot spanning 2023-2024.

The 1976 album Songs in the Key of Life from musical icon Stevie Wonder stayed in the top spot for 13 straight weeks and spent 14 overall weeks in the top spot between 1976-1977, according to Billboard.

The outlet noted that the emergence of Luminate’s tracking technology in 1991 has seen a spike of albums debuting at number one, as prior to then, only six records achieved the feat, including the aforementioned efforts from Houston and Wonder.

Looking at similar records, Adele’s 21 was the most recent album from a female artist to reside in the number one spot for a minimum of 12 total weeks, as it held the top spot for a total of 24 nonconsecutive weeks between 2011 and 2012.

The most recent album from a female artist to spend a minimum of 12 weeks in a row in the top spot was The Bodyguard soundtrack in 1992-1993.

The latest release from the Grammy-winning artist topped the Billboard 200 chart for the 12th straight week for the week ending July 20. Pictured Saturday in Milan

Swift’s 12 weeks atop the chart also surpassed a previous record held by late musical legend Whitney Houston, pictured in 1987 in London

Taylor Swift sings imgonnagetyouback during night two in Amsterdam

The record was centered around Houston, who starred in the romantic drama opposite Kevin Costner, and included six tracks from the late artist, including her smash single I Will Always Love You, as well as hits such as I’m Every Woman, I Have Nothing and Run to You.

The soundtrack spent 13 consecutive weeks in the number one spot and 20 overall.

As for Swift, this week’s achievement marks her 81st week in the top spot on the chart, which is a record for solo artists, with the late Elvis Presley having racked up 67 weeks.

Swift and Jay-Z are tied with the most-ever number one albums with 14, according to the outlet.