Taylor Swift Has An Incredible First Week - This Week in Country Music History

November 3, 2010

Taylor Swift’s Speak Now album sells 1,047,000 copies in its first week of release, second in country all-time to Garth Brooks’ Double Live, which sold 1,085,373 copies in 1998 (the album now ranks third all-time in the country genre behind Brooks and Swift's 2011 release Red, which totaled over 1.2 million in first week sales). It places 9th all genre first weeks sales, with NSync's 2000 album No Strings the all-time leader with an unheard of total of 2.41 million albums sold in its first week of release.

This was Swift's third album, the follow up to 2008's Fearless. Due to strong digital sales, all fourteen songs from the standard edition of the album charted, including five singles released to country radio from the album:"Sparks Fly" (#1), "Back To December" (#3), "Mean" (#2) "Ours" (#1), "Speak Now" (#58).

The song "Innocent" from the album was allegedly written in response to Kanye West's interruption of her acceptance speech at the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards. She performed the song at the awards show the next year as means of putting the controversy behind her.

Three versions of the album have been released and it has been certified 5x platinum in the U.S. and has sold more than 6 million copies world-wide.

2008
As Barack Obama wins a historic presidency, Brad Paisley witnesses a frenzied public reaction in New York's Times Square in person. The event inspires him to write "Welcome To The Future"
2004
Keith Urban's Be Here album goes gold and platinum at the same time. 5 singles were release from the album: "Days Go By", "Making Memories of Us" and "Better Life", which all went to #1 as well as the number 2 hits "You're My Better Half" and "Tonight I Wanna Cry". "Live to Love Another Day" also peaked at #8 on the country charts without being released to radio.
1998
Garth Brooks was honored with the Distinguished Achievement Award by the Los Angeles Music Center.
1995
Bryan White sings "Someone Else's Star" in his Grand Ole Opry debut. The same night, Vince Gill creates a stir when he appears with a stubbly buzzcut hairstyle.
#1 On This Date
SINGLES
2006 – Dierks Bentley – “Every Mile A Memory”
2000 – John Michael Montgomery – “The Little Girl”
1995 – David Lee Murphy – “Dust On The Bottle”
1989 – George Strait – “Ace In The Hole”
1978 – Barbara Mandrell – “Sleeping Single In A Double Bed”
1972 – Merle Haggard – “It’s Not Love (But It’s Not Bad)”
1967 – David Houston – “You Mean The World To Me”
1957 – The Everly Brothers – “Wake Up Little Susie”
1950 – Hank Snow – “I’m Movin’ On”
1944 – Red Foley – “Smoke On The Water”

ALBUMS
2006 – Dierks Bentley – Long Trip Alone
2000 – Faith Hill – Breathe
1995 – Tim McGraw – All I Want
1989 – Randy Travis – No Holdin’ Back
1978 – Dolly Parton – Heartbreaker
1972 – Charley Pride – A Sunshiny Day
1967 – Eddy Arnold – Turn The World Around
Birthdays
Songwriter/producer Billy Sherrill ("Stand By Your Man", "The Most Beautiful Girl") is 78
Singer/writer Delbert McClinton (“Tell Me About It”, “Two More Bottles Of Wine”) is 74
Singer Kim Forester (the Forester Sisters) is 54.

A Good First Week For Taylor Swift – Today In Country Music History [VIDEO]