Taylor Swift’s “The Life of a Showgirl” is back on top of the Billboard 200 albums chart, powered by an expanded edition that added four previously unreleased songs, Billboard reported Sunday.
The album vaulted from No. 21 to No. 1 on the chart dated Oct. 10, giving it a 13th nonconsecutive week in the top spot. It had not led the chart since the ranking dated Jan. 10, 2026, after debuting at No. 1 in October 2025.
In the U.S., the album collected 173,000 equivalent album units during the tracking week that ended Oct. 1, according to Luminate data cited by Billboard. That was more than seven times its total from the week before, when the album ranked No. 21. Billboard said roughly 78% of the total came from streaming, driven largely by the new material.
Four new songs, mostly streamed
Swift released “The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore” on Sept. 25, adding “Patient Zero,” “Cleveland!,” “Pink Clouding” and “Babylon” to the album. Billboard combines all versions of an album for chart purposes.
Album sales accounted for just 21,000 of the week’s units. The expanded edition is so far available only on streaming services and as a digital download, Billboard said, and Variety noted that no physical copies had gone on sale. Streaming-equivalent units made up 136,000, the equivalent of 138.79 million on-demand official streams, and track-equivalent units added 16,000.
“Patient Zero” is the reissue’s focus track. Its music video, which Swift directed and which co-stars Dakota Johnson and Colin Farrell, premiered during the MTV Video Music Awards broadcast on Sept. 27. Variety reported Sunday that the song was expected to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, whose top 10 Billboard planned to reveal Monday.
With 13 weeks at No. 1, “Showgirl” ranks second among Swift’s albums, according to Variety. Only “The Tortured Poets Department,” with 17 weeks, has spent longer on top, while “1989” and “Fearless” each logged 11 weeks.
The roughly nine-month wait between the album’s turns at No. 1 is the longest such gap since Bad Bunny’s “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” returned to the top in February, Billboard noted.
Olivia Rodrigo’s “You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love” rose to No. 2 on 67,000 units. Next came Ella Langley’s “Dandelion,” Morgan Wallen’s “I’m the Problem” and Noah Kahan’s “The Great Divide.” Tinashe landed her first top 10 album as “Popstar” debuted at No. 6, just ahead of Kenny Chesney’s “Silver Sands Marina” at No. 7, his 17th top 10 release.
The chart news capped a busy stretch for Swift. On Saturday, she made an unannounced appearance on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live” during Johnson’s opening monologue, after Johnson introduced her as “my literal therapist.” Swift answered, “I’m not your therapist, actually,” and the two traded jokes about Johnson’s dating life.
Swift later returned during the show’s closing goodnights carrying a birthday cake for Johnson, whose 37th birthday was Sunday, according to Variety and Yahoo Entertainment. It was Johnson’s third time hosting the show and Swift’s first on-screen appearance on “SNL” since October 2023, when she introduced musical guest Ice Spice.
What’s next
Billboard said it would post the full Billboard 200 for the week on its website Tuesday. The Hot 100 will show whether “Patient Zero” gives Swift a matching No. 1 on the singles chart, and next week’s album ranking will show whether streaming of the new songs holds up after the first-week surge.
