Taylor Swift has broken new ground with her grand Taylor’s Version endeavors this week. Swift’s new Red album is her second Taylor’s Version project to debut on top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart as of yesterday (after Fearless (Taylor’s Version)). Before today, none of the “Taylor’s Version” songs had gone No. 1, but now that has changed: On the Hot 100 chart dated November 27, “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” debuts in the top spot.
Billboard notes that both the 5-minute, 29-second and 10-minute, 13-second versions of the song contributed to its No. 1 placement. It’s important to note, though, that that the longer version was the most-consumed version, as Billboard says it accounted “for 62 percent of all its [streams] and 78 percent of all paid downloads.” Because of this, “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” is now the longest No. 1 song of all time (and the first one over ten minutes long). It surpasses the previous record-holder, Don McLean’s 1971 single “American Pie (Parts I & II),” which runs for 8 minutes and 37 seconds.
The #Hot100 top 10 (chart dated Nov. 27, 2021)
— billboard charts (@billboardcharts) November 22, 2021
.@taylorswift13‘s “All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” is officially the longest No. 1 hit of all time, at 10 minutes, 13 seconds.
Don McLean’s “American Pie (Parts I & II),” at 8 minutes, 37 seconds, held the mark for nearly a half-century, beginning in January 1972.
— billboard charts (@billboardcharts) November 22, 2021
This is quite the leap for “All Too Well,” as the original version of the song only managed a peak at No. 80 on the Hot 100.
“All Too Well (Taylor’s Version)” is Swift’s eighth No. 1 song, following “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together,” “Shake It Off,” “Blank Space,” “Bad Blood,” “Look What You Made Me Do,” “Cardigan,” and “Willow.” Of those, “Blank Space” had the longest reign thanks to the seven weeks it spent on top, a run that began on November 29, 2014.
Also worth noting is that Swift is now the first artist to have debuts atop the Billboard 200 and the Hot 100 during the same week on three different occasions. In fact, she’s the only artist to do it multiple times (BTS, Justin Bieber, and Drake have all done it once). Folklore and “Cardigan” debuted on top of their respective charts on August 8, 2020 before Evermore and “Willow” did the same thing on December 26, 2020.
.@taylorswift13 is the first artist in history to debut at No. 1 on the #Billboard200 and #Hot100 simultaneously on three separate occasions.@BTS_twt, @justinbieber and @Drake are the only other acts who have achieved the feat (once each).
— billboard charts (@billboardcharts) November 22, 2021
This news is just the icing on the cake today, as Swifties already got a treat this morning via Swift’s new version of “Christmas Tree Farm.”