TAYLOR'S TREMENDOUS YEAR

With a staggering output of four chart-topping albums over the last 16 months, totaling nearly 100 songs, Republic's Taylor Swift will end 2021 with market-leading total activity north of 6.1m (she’ll finish the year somewhere around 6.5m) and six albums crossing 500k: evermore and Fearless (Taylor's Version) will be 1m+; folklore and Red (Taylor's Version) will be 800k+; and Lover and 1989 will surpass 500k.

The productivity, savvy and cultural influence demonstrated by the multiple Grammy winner (who took AOTY last year and is nominated in that category this year) has been, as far as we can tell, unprecedented. Nobody works harder—or smarter—than Swift.

From repeatedly posting record-setting vinyl sales weeks, to joining TikTok and rushing to rerecord a viral track to turning in the most memorable Saturday Night Live appearance in ages (see below), Swift has been in peak form all year. She also scored a #1 album with three different titles in 2021—which hasn't been done by a solo artist this century—held the #1 spot on the Top 50 five times and topped the song chart with the longest #1 since "American Pie," her 10-minute revision of "All Too Well."

Once again, Tay has rewritten the rules.