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BIGGEST FIRST-WEEK DEBUT OF 2021 & BIGGEST FEMALE COUNTRY STREAMING WEEK EVER
18 APRIL 2021 (TORONTO, ON) – Returning to #1 around the world and breaking numerous records, Taylor Swift has made history yet again with Fearless (Taylor’s Version). Notably, she's the first woman with three new No. 1 albums in less than a year. Moving over 1 million units worldwide, Fearless (Taylor’s Version) logged the “biggest first week debut of any album this year,” “the biggest first week debut for a country album since 2015” and “the biggest female country streaming week ever.” Fearless (Taylor’s Version) is the only No. 1 album of its kind: a re-recording of an artist’s (own or another’s) previously released album.
Generating 50 million-plus streams on release day, it also achieved “the biggest first day streaming debut for any album on Spotify this year” and marked her fourth consecutive album to exceed 50 million Spotify streams in 24 hours. Fearless (Taylor’s Version) also becomes the first country album by a female artist to reach #1 on Apple Music’s US Albums chart.
In addition to capturing #1 on the Billboard Top 200, #1 on the Billboard Top Album Sales chart and #1 on the Billboard Country Albums chart, it went #1 in the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland. It debuted Top 5 in Belgium, Norway and the Netherlands and in Germany it was the biggest debut by a country album in the history of Germany’s album chart. Fearless (Taylor’s Version) charted at #1 on the iTunes Top Overall Albums Chart in 61 countries.
Fearless (Taylor’s Version) stands out as Taylor’s 4th #1 album in less than two years with the “3 biggest debuts since July2020” with folklore, evermore, and Fearless (Taylor’s Version). It also emerges as “the biggest female country album debut since the inception of the Billboard Top 200 album-based conception charts in 2014.” Fearless (Taylor’s Version) is the eleven-time GRAMMY® Award-winning, record-breaking superstar’s 9th #1 Album.
Taylor entered rarified air across the pond as Fearless (Taylor’s Version) became her 3rd album to chart #1 during its debut week in less than a year in the UK. The Beatles had previously accomplished this incredible feat the fastest in 364 days, but Taylor eclipsed the speed of The Fab Four as she reached this benchmark and accumulated three #1’s in just 259 days—a difference of 105 days.
Not only did it become her 7th #1 in the country, but Taylor became “the first and only solo artist ever to claim three UK #1 albums in less than 12 months during the 21st century” and “the first ever international artist and first ever female artist to land three #1 albums in the UK within one year in history.”
Physical sales of Fearless (Taylor’s Version) outsold the remaining combined total physical sales of the UK Top 15. The permanent downloads also bested the remaining combined total permanent downloads of the Top 70. She shattered her own record for the second time in the last year as “the first and only female artist to garner 7 #1 studio albums in the UK this century.” Additionally, she has gathered “the 3rd Most #1 albums in the UK by a female artist.”
Down Under, Taylor is now “the first artist to release three #1 albums in a 12-month period in Australia.” Taylor is the first artist to have three different albums top the ARIA Charts in a twelve-month period. She bests her own record of “the shortest span of #1 albums in Australia” with only 17 weeks between evermore and Fearless (Taylor’s Version). Her previous record was 20 weeks between folklore and evermore. With eight total #1 albums in Australia, she is second for “female artist with most #1 albums” only behind Madonna and just behind Eminem for “most consecutive #1 albums.” At radio, “Mr. Perfectly Fine (Taylor’s Version)” bows in the Top 10 on the Airplay Chart.
REVIEWS OF FEARLESS (TAYLOR’S VERSION)
“A Rating” – The A.V. Club, Saloni Gajjar
“5/5 Stars” – The Daily Telegraph, Neil McCormick
"Fearless was always an exceptionally fine album of country-pop songs, detailing the romantic fixations of a wholesome teenage American girl on the verge of adulthood, and guess what? It still is." – The Daily Telegraph, Neil McCormick
“4/5 Stars” – Rolling Stone, Jonathan Bernstein
“Her thirtysomething voice is richer, deeper, and more sure of itself." – Rolling Stone, Jonathan Bernstein
“There are the songs that feel more moving now than they did 13 years ago." – Rolling Stone, Jonathan Bernstein
“4/5 Stars” – The Guardian, Alexis Petridis
“Fearless is the kind of album in which fans have a genuine emotional investment." – The Guardian, Alexis Petridis
“She's changed from a talented kid with a guitar to one of today's biggest superstars.” – USA Today, Hannah Yasharoff
“The new album is really well done." – Entertainment Weekly, Lauren Huff
“"Fearless (Taylor's Version)" Is Even More Beautiful Than The Original Album” – Buzzfeed, Ryan Schocket
“Taylor's vocals are undeniably stronger, smoother, and more connected than ever.” – Buzzfeed, Ryan Schocket
“The vault songs are making everyone question why the album wasn’t 27 tracks long to begin with." – Buzzfeed, Ellie Bate
“Taylor Swift’s Fearless Re-Recording Is a Thrilling Timewarp.” – SPIN, Bobby Olivier
“4/5 Stars” – i Newspaper, Sarah Carson
“There are lyrics throughout Taylor Swift’s breakthrough record Fearless that nearly 13 years later, feel prophetic." – i Newspaper, Sarah Carson
“There’s something really special about listening to Taylor sing these songs knowing the huge distance between where she is now and who she was when she wrote them." – TIME, Annabel Gutterman
“I love that this re-recorded album is essentially a love letter to being a teenage girl. The world still dismisses teenage girls as not serious enough, too dramatic, and overall too much. Adolescence is often looked back on with embarrassment and shame. But these songs make me want to give my former 14-year-old self a hug and tell her she was doing just fine." – TIME, Samantha
“It’s really a triumph of self-knowledge and self-awareness, in the way that Swift is so hyper-conscious of the ways she’s matured that she has the ability to un-mature before our very ears." – Variety, Chris Willman
“Has there been a greater pop single in the 20th century than “You Belong With Me”? Probably not." – Variety, Chris Willman
“It would not be surprising if, as we speak, Big Machine was putting a combined team of scientists and lawyers on the case of the new album’s waveform readouts, to make sure it’s not just the original album, remixed. Honestly, it’s that close.” – Variety, Chris Willman
“4/5 Stars” – NME, Hannah Mylrea
“‘Fearless (Taylor’s Version)’ both celebrates and stays true to Swift’s ‘Fearless’-era." – NME, Hannah Mylrea
"Swift never cringes away from her younger self. Instead, she revisits the songs with kindness and affection, celebrating the success of her teenage releases." – NME, Hannah Mylrea
“Taylor Swift’s Fearless album proves her songs were written to last.” – The Independent, Roisin O’Connor
“We can’t help but be impressed…” – Evening Standard, David Smyth
“Taylor Swift has taken control." – Forbes, Abigail Freeman
“ALBUM OF WEEK: The real treats are the extra tracks, previously unreleased outtakes from the Fearless sessions. Maren Morris duets on the gorgeous You All Over Me, Keith Urban crops up and Mr Perfectly Fine is the banger that should have shown 13 years ago why country alone could never contain Swift’s talent.” – The Sunday Times, Lisa Verrico
“I immediately went to the chorus of “Fifteen,” one of my 2000s pop high-water marks, to see if I’d get chills. Good news: I did. Felt that gut punch during “White Horse.” “You Belong With Me” had that crucial air of resignation.” – The New York Times, Jon Caramanica
“As she dives back into her past work, it’s another reminder of what she brought to the genre — and what it lost when she moved on." – The Washington Post, Emily Yahr
“The redone tracks from the original release, which make up the album’s first portion, are almost uniformly better than their forebears: warmer, crisper, more clearly enunciated. They sound newer and, at the same time, more lived-in." – The Washington Post, Allison Stewart
“Taylor Swift releases a 'perfect replica' of Fearless.” – BBC, Mark Savage
“Damn, this album holds up – not only to the hype of its initial release, but despite that, beyond that.” – Consequence of Sound, Katie Moulton
“8/10” – The Line of Best Fit, Ross Horton
“4/5 Stars” – The Times, Will Hodgkinson
“Swifties grab your tissues, the release of Taylor Swift’s Fearless (Taylor’s Version) is finally here in all its nostalgic and emotional glory." – Wonderland, Staff Writer
“8/10” – Clash, Lucy Harbron
"Like a restored photograph brightening from black and white into colour, Fearless (Taylor's Version) is the same, but better." – Clash, Lucy Harbron
“It’s the latest evidence that Swift is not just fearless but also relentless." – Stereogum, Chris DeVille
“8/10” – Gigwise, Kelsey Barnes
“Swift is creating a bridge between two worlds; one where she’s merging older, timeless songs with a mature voice and outlook." – Gigwise, Kelsey Barnes
“4/5 Stars” – The Evening Standard, David Smyth
“A masterclass in classic Nashville songwriting, from the searing melodrama of Love Story to the breakdown of a relationship in Breathe.” – The Times, Will Hodgkinson
“5/5 Stars” – The Sun, Simon Boyle
“This is brilliant pop” – The Sun, Simon Boyle
