Five Burning Questions: Taylor Swift's Chart-Topping Week With 'Folklore' and 'Cardigan'

billboard.com:

You may have heard by now that Taylor Swift released a new album two Fridays ago (July 26) -- the stripped-down singer/songwriter set Folklore -- with less than a full day's notice.

This week, the early commercial returns for the acclaimed set are in, and if Swift's new set suffered from any lack of promotion, the numbers certainly don't show it.

Folklore debuts atop the Billboard 200 albums chart this week with 846,000 equivalent album units moved -- the most first-week units for any album since her own Lover posted 867,000 in Sept.

2019. And with lead single "Cardigan," Taylor notches her first Hot 100 No. 1 single since "Look What You Made Me Do" in 2017, as well as her first to debut at the chart's apex since "Shake It Off" in 2014.