Here's Why Taylor Swift Fans Are So Excited About Her History-Making No. 1s For "Folklore" And "Cardigan"

    It's the first time Taylor has made it to No. 1 with a single she owns.

    Ellie Bate
    by Ellie Bate

    BuzzFeed Staff

    You've probably heard Folklore by now — the surprise eighth album Taylor Swift released after announcing the news to fans on social media only 16 hours earlier.

    Valerie Macon / AFP / Getty Images

    I say you've probably heard it, because in the week since it was released, Folklore and its singles have totally smashed charts and records, with Billboard confirming on Monday that Taylor had become the first artist in history to debut both an album and a single at No. 1 in the same week.

    ABC / giphy.com

    It's probably no surprise that Folklore took the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200 after it was announced last week that the album had achieved the biggest debut sales week of 2020 in the US, with 846,000 equivalent units — also making it the biggest debut week for an album since Lover.

    Meanwhile the album's lead single, "Cardigan", debuted at number one on the Hot 100, becoming Taylor's sixth No. 1 on the chart and her second song to debut in that position after "Shake It Off".

    Republic Records / youtube.com

    Oh, and all 15 remaining tracks on the album also entered the chart, with "The 1" and "Exile" debuting within the top 10.

    That's the achievement Swifties are most excited about, because it marks the first time Taylor has made it to No. 1 with a single she actually owns.

    ABC / giphy.com

    You may remember that, before she released Lover in August last year, Taylor went through a very public drama with her old record label, Big Machine, over the master recordings of her first six albums.

    When it was announced the label had been acquired by Scooter Braun's company, Ithaca Holdings, Taylor wrote a lengthy post on Tumblr condemning the deal and calling it her "worst nightmare". She revealed that Big Machine had only offered her the opportunity to "earn" back the masters of her old albums if she signed a new 10-year deal with them, but she walked away because she knew Scott Borchetta was planning to sell the label.

    Instead, she signed a new contract with Universal Music Group that said Taylor herself would own the masters of every album she made going forward.

    While Lover — Taylor's first album under contract with UMG — went straight to No. 1 on the Billboard 200, both "Me!" and "You Need to Calm Down" only made it to No. 2 on the singles chart.

    Beth Garrabrant

    So it's safe to say Swifties couldn't be happier about the achievement, tweeting their excitement and praise for Taylor.

    «𝓓𝓪𝓰𝓶𝓪𝓻𝓪 » 𝒇𝒐𝒍𝒌𝒍𝒐𝒓𝒆 @bloodyforswift

    GUYS, IT'S THE 2ND ALBUM TAYLOR OWNS, HER FIRST #1 SONG SHE OWNS, IT'S A BIG DEAL FOR HER, AFTER ALL THIS SHIT SHE'S BEEN THROUGH, THAT'S WHAT SHE DESERVES

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    Plenty of fans expressed their pride with the hashtag #ProudOfTaylor, pointing out that Folklore was a huge departure for Taylor both in terms of genre and release strategy.

    s a r a a a a | 𝑓𝑜𝑙𝑘𝑙𝑜𝑟𝑒 | follow limit @fancysnaake

    am i ever gonna get over the fact that she did that with a surprise album? that she created in isolation? with a different music genre? and zero promo? and she also owns it? no❤️ #ProudOfTaylor

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    Audrey 🍍 @almostfuckingdo

    taylor took a huge risk dropping a suprise album with no lead up no promo no physical albums and yet look what she accomplished i’m so proud of taylor #ProudOfTaylor

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    salwa 🏹 @Afterdaylight_

    “folklore by Taylor Swift becomes the biggest debut of 2020 and biggest since her own ‘Lover’ which also held the biggest debut since ‘reputation.” #ProudOfTaylor

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    Others posted an extract from one of the journals published with Lover, where a 17-year-old Taylor wrote about her dream of selling 50,000 albums in one week.

    Taylor Swift Stats @statstaylor13

    you really did @taylorswift13 #ProudOfTaylor

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    And one person tweeted a clip from Taylor's Netflix documentary Miss Americana, where she reflected on her Lover era and said it may be her "last chance" for success.

    Luuh @SwiftCamzz

    remember when taylor thought that lover would be her last successful era?? LOOK AT HER NOW OMG #ProudOfTaylor

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    "This is probably one of my last opportunities as an artist to grasp onto that kind of success," Taylor says in the clip. "I don't know, as I'm reaching 30, I'm like, 'I want to work really hard while society is still tolerating me being successful.'"

    Congrats on all your new achievements, Taylor! 👑

    FOX / giphy.com

    Oh, and it looks like the queen herself was pretty excited about it all too. 💗

    Taylor Swift @taylorswift13

    https://t.co/frGE46P5vD

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