It’s Monday, April 29th, and Taylor Swift hits another record on the Billboard 200 with the release of her double album ‘The Tortured Poets Department.’ She makes a huge debut at No. 1, securing her 14th chart topping album. The Hot 100 is in, who takes the cake? Keep watching to find out. Rihanna is at it again teasing her new album and what type of tracks could potentially be on it. Jess Glynne takes us behind the photo, WILLOW stopped by the Billboard studio to share more about her upcoming album and more!
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00:00 Taylor Swift makes a historic debut with the Torture Poets Department.
00:04 The album does a complete takeover on the Hot 100.
00:07 Rihanna teases R9, leaving fans wanting more.
00:10 And we give you a preview of our chat with Willow Smith.
00:13 Welcome to a brand new week of Billboard News.
00:18 We've got a lot to get into, so let's start with our top story.
00:22 To no one's surprise, Taylor Swift's The Torture Poets Department
00:25 made a huge debut on the Billboard 200
00:28 and broke some other records too.
00:30 Taylor herself reacted to the huge news, posting on Twitter.
00:39 "My mind is blown. I'm completely floored by the love you've shown this album."
00:43 The album debuted at No. 1 on the chart.
00:45 It's the superstar's 14th chart-topping album.
00:48 That makes her tied with Jay-Z for the most No. 1 albums for a solo artist
00:52 in the nearly 70-year history of the chart.
00:54 Only the Beatles are ahead with 19 No. 1 albums.
00:57 The album launched with 2.61 million equivalent album sales
01:01 and over 891 million official streams.
01:04 With 1.9 million traditional album sales,
01:07 it's instantly the top-selling album of 2024.
01:10 To put that number into context,
01:12 the second biggest-selling album, counting weekly sales from January to now,
01:16 is Beyoncé's Cowboy Carter, with 228,000 copies total.
01:21 Taylor does it again.
01:23 Taylor Swift breaking records? Who would have guessed?
01:25 Here's this week's chart.
01:27 Taylor Swift's The Torture Poets department has done a complete takeover.
01:31 This is the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 for the week dated May 4.
01:35 At No. 10 is Guilty As Sin.
01:41 Who's Afraid of Little Ole Me is in at 9.
01:52 Florence and the Machine joins Taylor at 8.
01:55 But Daddy, I Love Him is at No. 7.
02:04 At 6 is My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys.
02:13 So Long London is at 5.
02:22 So Long London.
02:26 The title track is in at 4.
02:29 With I Can Do It With A Broken Heart at 3.
02:37 Down Bad is in at No. 2.
02:48 Debuting in the top spot is Taylor's 12th No. 1,
02:51 Fortnite featuring Post Malone.
02:53 I know you didn't think that was all the news we had.
02:58 Over here at Billboard, we're always on top of it.
03:01 Rihanna keeps fans on the edge of their seat
03:03 as she reveals more about her upcoming album.
03:06 Speaking with Extra on the red carpet for the launch of her Fenty Beauty Soft Lip Foundation,
03:15 Rihanna teased that the album will be worth the wait, saying,
03:18 She continued,
03:24 Riri also hints that the album won't have many collaborations,
03:34 saying she would only collaborate with another artist if it's "very intentional."
03:39 So while things are in the works,
03:41 it seems like the Navy will have to wait a little longer for the highly anticipated album.
03:46 Jess Glynn is a pop icon,
03:48 and it's not every day she tells you about how she's hung out with the Spice Girls.
03:52 Hey, I'm Jess Glynn, and this is Behind the Photo with Billboard.
03:56 This picture was taken in Rack Studios in North London,
04:05 where I've recorded a lot of this album.
04:08 I remember it quite specifically.
04:10 I wrote the intro to the album,
04:13 and this was a moment where I was obviously listening to the record back,
04:18 and my friend Jolene, who is my creative director,
04:20 thought, "Let's take a nice little snap.
04:22 This is a really light, beautiful moment,"
04:24 because there was a few tears, actually, that day.
04:27 This picture is me on stage last year at Radio 1.
04:32 This was quite a special moment for me
04:34 because I had not been on stage for, I would say, three to four years.
04:40 It'd been a minute.
04:41 It was actually a really big relief, being on stage and everyone's reaction.
04:46 And this moment captures it all.
04:48 This is a picture of me at Wembley Stadium with the Spice Girls,
04:53 and this was just before our last show.
04:55 This was one of the most surreal moments of my life.
04:58 The Spice Girls was the first gig I ever went to at Wembley Arena as a kid.
05:02 My manager came up to me.
05:04 He was like, "The Spice Girls are getting back together and doing a tour,
05:08 and they want you to go on tour with them."
05:09 And I was like, "Shut up."
05:11 And he was like, "Yeah, do you want to do it?"
05:13 And I was like, "Is this real?"
05:14 Fast forward, it was real.
05:16 I went on the tour with the Spice Girls,
05:18 and it was one of the most insane moments
05:21 and probably one of the biggest highlights of my career.
05:23 And I will never forget walking out into that stadium for the first time
05:28 and their show starting, and I actually felt like a little kid.
05:31 So that was a moment I will never forget.
05:34 This is me pouting with my new merch hat on that says,
05:38 "I take you for breakfast."
05:40 And that is a lyric from my musical, "Enough."
05:43 "Enough" is a really important song for this record.
05:49 It was the first song that I wrote that I decided was going to be on the album.
05:53 It kind of set me up for the messaging of this record,
05:56 and when we were announcing the album,
05:58 the only song that made sense to release with that moment was this song
06:02 because it kind of summarizes the journey that I've been on and where I'm at now.
06:06 It's crazy because the song's kind of evolved for me in its meaning over the years.
06:10 When I listen to it now, it's a really nice, reassuring message that I am enough.
06:15 Tomorrow I sit down with Willow Smith.
06:17 I had so much fun. I'm going to give you a little taste.
06:21 Souls spark, that flame inside of them that makes you go,
06:24 "Oh my God, I could ignite that inside of me.
06:28 I could help people ignite that inside of themselves."
06:30 Willow Smith stopped by the Billboard studio to talk all about her new album, "Out Friday."
06:36 The insightful artist teased what fans can expect
06:45 and why this album is more grown up than any of her previous albums.
06:50 For me, that path is sharpening my musicianship,
06:53 sharpening my compassion, and those two go hand in hand.
06:58 I feel like this album is the first album where I'm on the same page with myself.
07:05 Plus, she's about to become a published author.
07:08 I think my friends and my family just know me.
07:12 They just know all of my weird quirks and all the things that I love to read about
07:16 and pontificate about randomly, so I don't think it was a huge surprise.
07:21 That's today's show. Come back tomorrow for my full Willow Smith interview
07:24 and see who's on the cover of Billboard this week.
07:27 I'm Tetris Kelly and this is Billboard News.
07:31 (upbeat music)