Chart Rewind: Taylor Swift’s ‘Speak Now’ Forever Holds Its Place in History
Speakers were widely attuned to Taylor Swift when her third studio LP, Speak Now, debuted at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart and Top Country Albums dated Nov. 13, 2010.
The set followed 2008’s Fearless as the second of six Swift albums that have started atop both lists.
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Speak Now’s release was heavily publicized, as Swift made performances at New York’s Kennedy Airport, on ABC’s Dancing With the Stars and on Los Angeles’ Hollywood Boulevard as she shot an NBC special, Taylor Swift – Speak Now.
Five Speak Now singles reached the top five on the Hot Country Songs chart: “Mine” (No. 2 peak, November 2010), “Back to December” (No. 3, March 2011), “Mean” (No. 2, June 2011) and two No. 1s, which led for one week each: “Sparks Fly” (November 2011) and “Ours” (March 2012), the latter from a Target-exclusive CD version of the album.
On the Billboard Hot 100, four Speak Now songs hit the top 10, including the title track, with “Mine” charting the highest (No. 3).
Amplifying Speak Now’s legacy, Dan + Shay’s new cover of “Back to December” debuted at No. 4 on Billboard’s Country Digital Song Sales chart dated Nov. 1.
Speak Now logged 13 weeks at No. 1 on Top Country Albums. Meanwhile, the re-recording, Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), led for two weeks in 2023.
In addition to Swift’s six albums that have topped both the country and all-genre album lists, her self-titled debut dominated Top Country Albums for 24 weeks beginning in August 2007 and her EP Beautiful Eyes went No. 1 on the chart for a week in August 2008.
Nine more of Swift’s titles have led the Billboard 200 but not Top Country Albums, including The Life of a Showgirl, currently ruling (on the Nov. 15-dated survey) for a fifth week. Her 15 Billboard 200 No. 1s are the most among soloists and second overall only to the Beatles’ 19.
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