Taylor Swift ‘blown away’ at chart success of The Tortured Poets Department

The US pop star’s chart-topping 11th original studio album was released in April and has subsequently spent eight non-consecutive weeks at the top of the UK albums chart.

The record has also spent 12 consecutive weeks at the top of Billboard’s US albums chart and Swift said this has “never happened to an album of mine before”.

The 34-year-old, who is currently touring Europe, spoke about the achievement and reflected on her most recent shows in the German city of Gelsenkirchen.

In a social media post she said: “Those 3 Gelsenkirchen crowds were AMAZING, and so thoughtful??? There were signs and paper hearts, the ‘betty’ wave, and tons of DIY ‘willow’ orbs made out of balloons + phone flashlights.

“Thank you!!! I also wanted to say to everyone who’s supported The Tortured Poets Department, I am completely blown away by what you’ve done – it stayed at #1 for the first 12 weeks of its release and that’s never happened to an album of mine before, not even close!!

“You’re just the greatest. Anyway, now that we’ve officially kicked off our shows in Germany, I can’t wait to see you all in Hamburg next!”

It comes after Swift’s record was named the biggest album of 2024, in the UK, by the Official Charts Company in its mid 2024 update.

Including re-recordings, the album is Swift’s 12th UK number one, matching Madonna’s long-held all-time chart record.

The Tortured Poets Department also saw the biggest opening week of any artist since Ed Sheeran’s Divide in 2017.

As part of her Eras Tour, Swift arrived to the UK in June and performed a number of memorable gigs in cities including Edinburgh, Cardiff and Liverpool.

Among the A-listers in attendance at the London shows were: Sir Paul McCartney, Hugh Grant and Tom Cruise.

Swift will be returning to the capital in August for five gigs at Wembley Stadium.