Taylor Swift’s ‘Fearless (Taylor’s Version)’ Rebounds to Number One on Strength of CDs

Taylor Swift’s Fearless (Taylor’s Version) takes Number One on the Rolling Stone Top 200 Albums Chart for a second time, rising 98 positions after a limited release of autographed CDs, as well as a vinyl edition.

Fearless (Taylor’s Version) first debuted atop the RS 200 in April, with the biggest sales week of 2021. Now, 26 weeks later, Fearless (Taylor’s Version) sees the third-biggest sales week of 2021. (Evermore saw the second-biggest week when a vinyl version was released at the end of May.)

All told, Fearless (Taylor’s Version) saw more than 140,000 sales from October 1st through October 7th. It moved 77,000 CDs — the second-biggest week of the year by CD sales, second only to Fearless (Taylor’s Version)’s first week. It also saw 67,000 vinyl sales, marking the second-largest vinyl sales week in Alpha Data history, behind only Evermore. 

Swift surpasses Pop Smoke for the most cumulative weeks in the Top Five, with 36. She also ties Post Malone as the artist with the most cumulative weeks in the Top 10, with 56, and extends her record as the artist with the most cumulative weeks at Number One. 


Top Albums

The week of October 1, 2021
1

Fearless (Taylor's Version)

Taylor Swift

Album Units
210.9K

2

Certified Lover Boy

Drake

Album Units
109.1K

3

Expensive Pain

Meek Mill

NEW!
Album Units
88.4K

4

Sincerely, Kentrell

YoungBoy Never Broke Again

Album Units
65.5K

5

Love For Sale

Tony Bennett, Lady Gaga

NEW!
Album Units
49.9K

Fearless (Taylor’s Version) knocks Drake’s Certified Lover Boy to Number Two, though Certified Lover Boy was the biggest-streaming album of the week, with more than 136 million. Meek Mill scores the highest debut of the week with Expensive Pain at Number Three, with 97 million streams, marking a new career peak for Meek Mill. YoungBoy Never Broke Again’s Sincerely, Kentrell takes fourth, while Lady Gaga and Tony Bennett’s Love for Sale debuts at Number Five. Love for Sale marks Lady Gaga’s second Top 10 album, and Tony Bennett’s RS 200 debut.

The Rolling Stone 200 Albums chart tracks the most popular releases of the week in the United States. Entries are ranked by album units, a number that combines digital and physical album sales, digital song sales, and audio streams using a custom weighting system. The chart does not include passive listening such as terrestrial radio or digital radio. The RS 200 Albums chart is updated daily, and each week Rolling Stone finalizes and publishes an official version of the chart, covering the seven-day period ending the previous Thursday.

Other big debuts on this week’s RS 200 include Brandi Carlile’s In These Silent Days at Number Eight, Farruko’s La 167 at Number 26, and Lil Wayne and Rich the Kid’s Trust Fund Babies at Number 35. 

Elsewhere, as “Está Dañada” debuts on the RS 100, Ivan Cornejo makes his RS 200 debut at Number 168 with Alma Vacía. CKay also makes his debut, with Ckay the First — home to his breakout viral single “Love Nwantiti (Ah Ah Ah)” —  at Number 193. And as “Love in the Dark” continues to gain popularity on streaming, Adele’s 25 reaches a new peak, rising to Number 69. 

See the full RS 200 here.