It’s official: Taylor Swift’s “Red” sold a whopping 1.208 million copies last week in the U.S., according to Nielsen SoundScan. That’s more than any album has sold in a single week since 2002, when Eminem’s “The Eminem Show” sold 1.322 million in its first full week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200.
“Red” also easily debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, scoring Swift her third chart-topper.
“Red” is only the 18th album to sell a million units in a single week since SoundScan started tracking sales in 1991. Its start ranks as the eighth-biggest sales week in that span of time. The SoundScan-era record week is held by NSync’s “No Strings Attached,” when it debuted at No. 1 with 2.416 million in 2000.
Swift’s sizzling start is also the second-largest sales frame for a female artist. Only Britney Spears had a bigger week, when “Oops! … I Did It Again” sold 1.319 million in its debut in 2000.
As we projected last week, the blockbuster set marks the first album to move a million copies in a week since May of 2011, when Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” blasted in with 1.108 million in its No. 1 debut. However, “Red’s” number is a bit bigger than the 1.100 million that had been forecasted by industry sources.
”Red” also makes Swift the only woman to have two million-selling weeks since SoundScan started tracking sales in 1991. The country/pop star earlier earned a million week when her last studio release, 2010’s “Speak Now,” launched with 1.047 million.
Tess Explains It All 