Taylor Swift Sets Women’s Record for Most Number One Albums 

Taylor Swift accepts the "iHeartRadio Innovator" award at the iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles, California, US, March 27, 2023. (Reuters)
Taylor Swift accepts the "iHeartRadio Innovator" award at the iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles, California, US, March 27, 2023. (Reuters)
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Taylor Swift Sets Women’s Record for Most Number One Albums 

Taylor Swift accepts the "iHeartRadio Innovator" award at the iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles, California, US, March 27, 2023. (Reuters)
Taylor Swift accepts the "iHeartRadio Innovator" award at the iHeartRadio Music Awards in Los Angeles, California, US, March 27, 2023. (Reuters)

Taylor Swift now has more number one albums than any other female artist in history following the recent release of "Speak Now (Taylor's Version)," Billboard said Monday.

The record debuted at the top of the Billboard charts, becoming the pop queen's 12th number one album and surpassing Barbra Streisand for the most among women.

For male performers, Jay-Z and the Beatles both have over a dozen number one albums, though Billboard notes it has changed its album ranking system over the decades to include anthologies.

Swift, 33, has also become the first living artist in nearly 60 years to have four albums in the top 10 at the same time, the organization added.

They include "Midnights," "Lover" and "Folklore."

Billboard said Swift had also become the first living artist to have 11 albums in the top 200 simultaneously.

Swift's record-breaking feats come as she performs many of her best hits on the fan-frenzied "Eras" tour.

The 106-date stadium concert series kicked off in March and is within striking distance of becoming the first billion-dollar tour.

"Speak Now" was originally released in 2010. Swift has vowed to re-record her first six albums so she can control their rights -- a process she was contractually allowed to begin in November 2020.

She has also re-recorded "Fearless" and "Red."

Last October, Swift became the first artist ever to simultaneously nab all 10 spots on the top US song chart after the release of her tenth studio album "Midnights."



Anna Netrebko to Sing at Palm Beach Opera Gala

FILE - Soprano Anna Netrebko attends a news conference on the premiere of Manon Lescaut in the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, Russia on Oct. 14, 2016. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
FILE - Soprano Anna Netrebko attends a news conference on the premiere of Manon Lescaut in the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, Russia on Oct. 14, 2016. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
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Anna Netrebko to Sing at Palm Beach Opera Gala

FILE - Soprano Anna Netrebko attends a news conference on the premiere of Manon Lescaut in the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, Russia on Oct. 14, 2016. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)
FILE - Soprano Anna Netrebko attends a news conference on the premiere of Manon Lescaut in the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow, Russia on Oct. 14, 2016. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)

Soprano Anna Netrebko is scheduled to give a recital at the Palm Beach Opera for its gala on Feb. 3 in what would be her first US appearance in six years.

Considered the world’s top soprano, Netrebko was dropped by the Metropolitan Opera in 2022 after she refused a demand by Met general manager Peter Gelb that she repudiate Russia President President Vladimir Putin following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. She has sued the Met, alleging defamation and breach of contract in a case that is pending, The AP reported.

She has appeared since then at major houses including the Vienna State Opera, Paris Opéra, Milan’s Teatro alla Scala and Berlin’s Staatsoper unter den Linden but had not been engaged in the US or by The Royal Opera in London. She last appeared at the Met in 2019 in Verdi’s “Macbeth.”

Netrebko will perform with pianist Ángel Rodríguez at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts.

“I am honored to be lending my voice to the Palm Beach Opera’s annual gala,” Netrebko said in a statement Wednesday sent to The Associated Press.

Palm Beach Opera’s season includes three performances each of Gounod's "Roméo et Juliette" in January, Verdi’s “La Traviata” in February and Mozart’s “Le Nozze di Figaro” in April. Casts have not been announced.

Past Palm Beach Opera galas featured Luciano Pavarotti, Plácido Domingo, José Carreras, Renée Fleming and Bryn Terfel, with Isabel Leonard (2024), Piotr Becza³a (2023) and Nadine Sierra (2022) appearing in recent years.

“It means a lot to me to be joining the remarkable list of illustrious singers that have participated in this celebration over the last decades,” Netrebko said.