Even Billie Eilish’s new album in its debut week could not dethrone Taylor Swift’s Tortured Poets Department from the Billboard 200.
Swift’s 11th studio album entered its fifth week in a row as No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums charts, the first album to do so since Morgan Wallen’s One Thing at a Time, which led for the first 12 weeks of 2023. Per Billboard, TTPD has earned the “largest fifth week for any album since Adele’s 25 in 2016.”
While Eilish, 22, did not take the top spot, she sits comfortably below Swift at No. 2 with her new studio album Hit Me Hard and Soft, which was released on May 17. This is Eilish’s third album to reach the top two of Billboard 200, the previous two being Happier Than Ever in 2021 and When We Fall Asleep in 2019.
Over the weekend, Swift brought her record-breaking Eras Tour to Portugal for two shows on Friday, May 24, and Saturday, May 25. Following a short break, she will next perform in Spain on Wednesday, May 29, and Thursday, May 30.
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As for Eilish, the Billboard 200 ranking comes after the singer faced significant backlash from Swifties following an interview with Billboard in March. In the interview, she criticized artists who not only perform “3-hour concerts” but also release multiple versions of their albums in different packaging for fans to purchase.
“Some of the biggest artists in the world [are] making f—king 40 different vinyl packages that have a different unique thing just to get you to keep buying more,” Eilish told Billboard. “It’s so wasteful, and it’s irritating to me that we’re still at a point where you care that much about your numbers and you care that much about making money — and it’s all your favorite artists doing that s–t.”
While Eilish was advocating for sustainability in the music industry, Swift fans, however, took this as a thinly veiled dig at the 34-year-old pop star. “Okay so it would be so awesome if people would stop putting words into my mouth and actually read what I said in that billboard article,” Eilish wrote in a statement via Instagram Stories. “I wasn’t singling anyone out, these are industry-wide systemic issues.”
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She added, “When it comes to variants, so many artists release them, including me, which ! clearly state in the article. The climate crisis is now and it’s about all of us being part of the problem and trying to do better sheesh.”
In a sustainability statement on her website, Eilish’s team explained that the eight vinyl variants of Hit Me Hard and Soft use recycled materials. “For her forthcoming album, Billie Eilish will be releasing a limit of 8 variants of vinyl through her website as well as all major retailers including Target, Amazon, and Walmart; each on the same day, containing the same track-listing across the board and all produced with the most sustainable practices available,” the statement read. “The standard black variant is made from 100% recycled black vinyl. The remaining 7 colored vinyl will be made from ECO-MIX or BioVinyl.”
