Taylor Swift shut down Hollywood Boulevard last Thursday when fans flocked to see her perform on “Jimmy Kimmel Live,” and this week she’s poised to accomplish something even more impressive. Swift’s new album “1989” is expected to sell over a million copies in its first week.
It would be the pop star’s third million-plus sales week over the course of her career, making her the first entertainer to reach that milestone. The 24-year-old singer, who was born in 1989, is on her way to having only the 19th album to ever hit a million first week sales since Nielsen SoundScan started tracking the data in 1991. Swift would also be the first artist to reach the mark in 2014.
The “Shake It Off” songstress would also be the first recording artist to pass the impressive mark since she did it with her previous album “Red,” which debuted in 2012 and has since sold over six million copies worldwide.
Moreover, “1989” would catapult into second place on 2014’s best selling albums list, comfortably above Beyonce’s self-titled album which has sold 787,000 copies, but is still trailing Disney’s “Frozen” soundtrack, which has moved over 3.2 million units.
Two weeks ago, Swift’s album was expected to move 750,000 units in its opening week, but positive word of mouth caused estimates to climb steadily and, well, swiftly. According to Billboard, industry insiders say breaking the one mil mark in the first week seems likely.
The album, released Tuesday by Big Machine Records, soared in popularity thanks to its debut single “Shake It Off.” Released in August, the chart-topping song was critically embraced and has since been certified double platinum by the RIAA.
Of course, these are still estimates. Official results will be announced Wednesday, Nov. 5.