Get to know Taylor Swift's album 'The Tortured Poets Department'
It was released in mid-April
Last updated 21st Aug 2024
Taylor Swift made Grammy history earlier this year by winning Album of the Year for the fourth time - also revealing the release date for her album 'The Tortured Poets Department', which she subsequently released on 19th April 2024 as a surprise DOUBLE album.
Exactly two weeks after the record's release - which is the singer-songwriter's 11th studio album - 'The Tortured Poets Department' was certified Platinum by the BPI... Which translates to 300,000 sales in the UK alone - wow! Now certified 2x Platinum, here's everything you need to know about the incredible album...
Before the album's release, fans were speculating over whether there could be five versions of her 11th studio album, which is the follow-up to her Number 1 album 'Midnights', released in 2022.
Taking to Instagram to share details of her new release, early in the morning of Friday 19th April, Taylor posted the artwork for her new album, 'The Tortured Poets Department - The Anthology', writing: 'It’s a 2am surprise: The Tortured Poets Department is a secret DOUBLE album. ✌️
'I’d written so much tortured poetry in the past 2 years and wanted to share it all with you, so here’s the second installment of TTPD: The Anthology. 15 extra songs. And now the story isn’t mine anymore… it’s all yours. 🤍'. (sic)
On release, the singer also shared a message to her fans about her new music, writing: 'The Tortured Poets Department. An anthology of new works that reflect events, opinions and sentiments from a fleeting and fatalistic moment in time - one that was both sensational and sorrowful in equal measure.
'This period of the author’s life is now over, the chapter closed and boarded up. There is nothing to avenge, no scores to settle once wounds have healed. And upon further reflection, a good number of them turned out to be self-inflicted. This writer is of the firm belief that our tears become holy in the form of ink on a page. Once we have spoken our saddest story, we can be free of it.
'And then all that’s left behind is the tortured poetry. THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT is out now.'
How many version of Taylor's album are there?
It has now been revealed that there are four physical versions of the album, named after the extra tracks:
'The Manuscript Edition' (Extra track - 'The Manuscript')
'The Black Dog Edition' (Extra track - 'The Black Dog')
'The Albatross Edition' (Extra track - 'The Albatross')
'The Bolter Edition' (Extra track - 'The Bolter')
There is also her surprise double version, which includes 15 extra tracks: 'The Tortured Poets Department - The Anthology' (Double album), along with her original standard edition.
What is the fan theory?
Before Taylor's album was released Swifties were theorising that there would be five versions of it, reflecting the five stages of grief. Read their theories below.
'The Manuscript' is in line with the Denial phase, as the tagline reads 'I love you, it’s ruining my life'.
The second version to be announced was 'The Bolter', with the tagline, 'You don’t get to tell me about sad', relating to 'Anger'.
And the third version to be announced so far is 'The Albatross', which many fans believe represents 'Bargaining', with the tagline: 'Am I allowed to cry?'.
So it was also thought there would two more versions, relating to Depression and Acceptance.
'The Albatross'
After revealing an alternative cover while on tour in Melbourne, the singer announced another edition of the album, with an extra track.
Taylor shared the exciting news on 23rd February telling her fans: 'File Name: The Albatross 🤍
'Pre-order the new edition of THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT with exclusive bonus track “The Albatross” on my website now'.
Taylor previously told her fans in Melbourne that writing the lyrics for her new album got her through a difficult period of her life.
"'Tortured Poets' is an album... I think more than any of my albums that I’ve ever made, I needed to make it. It was really a lifeline for me," she told her fans.
"Just the things I was going through and the things I was writing about," she continued. "It kind of reminded me of why songwriting is something that actually gets me through my life, and I never had an album where I needed songwriting more than I needed it on 'Tortured Poets'."
'The Bolter'
The singer announced while on tour in Melbourne that an alternative version of the album would be available, displaying the cover to her fans. She said: "I wanted to show you something tonight because we’ve got an alternate cover to ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ that nobody has seen and there’s an exclusive song on this vinyl called ‘The Bolter.’
"This is called ‘The Bolter Edition.’ Look at that cover, it’s so tortured, so poetic. I wanted to show that to you here in Melbourne because you’ve just been the best that you could possibly be."
She also announced a different edition with her song 'Albatross'.
How did Taylor Swift announce her album?
Taylor announced her album on stage at the Grammys in February 2024. The singer accepted two awards on the night including Best Pop Vocal Album for her album 'Midnights'. Taylor told her fans that it was her 13th Grammy, and went on to thank the Recording Academy for their votes.
The singer then revealed a secret she'd been keeping for two years, saying: "I want to say thank you to the fans by telling you a secret that I have been keeping from you for the last two years, which is that my brand-new album comes out April 19th."
Continuing: "It’s called ‘The Tortured Poets Department.’ I’m going to go and post the cover right now backstage. Thank you, I love you!"
Tay then posted the album cover and a handwritten note, all in black and white. Her post on X read: 'All’s fair in love and poetry... New album THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT. Out April 19 🤍'.
The replies were instantly filled with fans' comments about the news. One wrote: 'i think this is the best day of my life!' (sic), another wrote, in response to the rumour she was going to announce her version of 'reputation': 'YOU TRICKED US…. BUT THIS IS EVEN BETTER THAN WE EXPECTED.' (sic)
What was Taylor's backup plan for announcing her album?
However, it could have been very different if she didn't take home any awards, so of course Taylor had a backup plan. While performing in Toyko as part of her world tour, the singer told her fans, that if she hadn't won the Grammy, then she would have announced the album in Tokyo.
She explained: "I told myself if I'm lucky enough to win anything tonight, I'm just gonna do it. I'm just gonna announce it. My backup plan was that I was gonna announce it tonight in Tokyo."
Taylor continued: "I’ve been working on Tortured Poets since right after I turned in 'Midnights'. I’ve been working on it for about two years, I worked on it throughout the US tour …soon we’ll get to hear it together."
'The Tortured Poets Department' is Taylor's 11th album (not including re-recorded albums), and the follow-up to her 2022 album 'Midnights', which featured 'Anti-Hero' and 'Lavender Haze'.
'I Can Do It With A Broken Heart'
'I Can Do It With A Broken Heart' features on Taylor's latest album, and the singer premiered the music video for it during her last performance in London on 20th August. The music video features behind-the-scenes footage from her 'Eras' tour, along with clips from rehearsals and her fans singing along to it. It also shows her hiding in a 'cleaning cart' so she can get backstage undetected.
What is Taylor Swift's new album called?
Taylor's new album is called 'The Tortured Poets Department'.
When was 'The Tortured Poets Department' released?
'The Tortured Poets Department' was released on 19th April 2024.
Where did it come in the charts?
The record debuted at Number 1 in the UK, spending eight weeks in total at the top spot!
What's the track list?
Taylor released the track list for her 11th album the day after the initial announcement. With four 'sides', the album has a total of 17 tracks (including one bonus track). The album features collaborative artists such as Post Malone and Florence + the Machine.
'The Tortured Poets Department' track list:
Side A
Fortnight (feat. Post Malone)
The Tortured Poets Department
My Boy Only Breaks His Favorite Toys
Down Bad
Side B
So Long, London
But Daddy I Love Him
Fresh Out the Slammer
Florida!!! (Florence + the Machine)
Side C
Guilty as Sin?
Who’s Afraid of Little Old Me?
I Can Fix Him (No Really I Can)
loml
Side D
I Can Do It With a Broken Heart
The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived
The Alchemy
Clara Bow
Bonus Track: Depends on the version
Take a look through Taylor Swift's amazing career:
2002: Taylor Swift performs the National Anthem
In 2002, a young Taylor Swift sang the American National Anthem at a Philadelphia 76ers basketball game. It was clear early on she was destined to be a star.
2004: Taylor Swift signs her first record deal
In 2004, 14-year-old Taylor signed a record deal with Sony/ATV, becoming the youngest signing in the company's history.
2006: Taylor Swift releases her first single and album
By age 16, Taylor was already getting major recognition as an established country artist. She released her first single, 'Tim McGraw', off her self-titled debut album, which was later certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
Her album was released on October 24th 2006 by Big Machine Records. The songstress wrote the best-performing songs 'Teardrops On My Guitar', 'Should've Said No' and 'Picture To Burn' whilst juggling high school with her blossoming music career.
Impressively, the singer-songwriter became the youngest person in history to single-handedly write and perform a Number 1 song on the Hot Country Songs chart with 'Our Song'. 'Teardrops on My Guitar' also performed well commercially, spending 48 weeks in the Billboard chart and became Taylor's first US top 20 hit.
2007: CMT Music Award win
Taylor Swift won the CMT Music Award for Breakthrough Artist, foreshadowing her massively successful career that was to follow. She also performed at the Academy of Country Music Awards, where she won the award for New Female Vocalist of the Year.
2008: Taylor Swift's 'Fearless' album
The super-talented Taylor released her second album, 'Fearless', in 2008. It became the longest Billboard chart-topper by a female country artist. The album held the Number 1 spot for 11 consecutive weeks in the US.
The lead single from this album, 'Love Story', stayed in the Billboard chart for 36 weeks. With the iconic music video re-telling a fairytale love, it became a firm fan favourite and cemented Taylor Swift in the pop scene. 'Love Story' won a number of awards including Song of The Year at BMI's Country Awards.
2009: VMA Best Female Video award
Although this might not typically be a highlight, it did start the complicated relationship that Taylor Swift and Kanye West went on to have. If you don't know what we're talking about then here's a quick recap. During her acceptance speech for her Best Female Video award win, Kanye West interrupted her on stage to speak up for Beyoncé's 'Single Ladies' video, which he believed should have won the award. This event started an infamous feud between the pair that spanned a decade.
Thankfully, Taylor later had the chance to finish her VMA's winner's speech when Beyoncé invited her back on stage during her own win.
Taylor Swift's 2009 was not clouded by this though as this was also the year that she embarked on her debut concert tour 'Fearless'. The tour was named after her second album of the same name. Beginning in Indiana and concluding in Canada, Justin Bieber was one of the support acts for this tour back in 2009.
2010: Taylor makes film debut in Valentine's Day
Taylor Swift proved she is a woman of many talents in her debut film role in the 2010 Valentine's Day. She played Felicia Miller the film, with the plot following a group of characters through their love struggles and relationships on Valentine's Day.
She was also listed as one of Time's 100 Most Influential People in 2010. Unsurprisingly, she made the list in 2015 and 2019 too.
2010: Taylor Swift wins her first Grammy Award
Taylor was awarded her first well-deserved Grammy, during the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards. She won Best Female Country Vocal Performance for her song 'White Horse'.
She won three other Grammy awards on that date, Best Country Song, Best Country Album for 'Fearless' and finally, the coveted Album of the Year award.
In her Grammy award acceptance speech, Taylor said, "This is my first Grammy, you guys! I mean this is, this is a Grammy! I live in awe of the people that I was nominated against in this category. I live in awe of my producer, Nathan Chapman, and all of the wonderful incredibly talented musicians in Nashville, and thank you to anyone who was a Grammy voter and decided that it might be a good idea to vote for me for this, because I'm so happy. Thank you so much!"
2011: Taylor Swift releases third studio album 'Speak Now'
2011 was the year that saw Taylor's third album release, 'Speak Now' with it winning Favourite Country Album at the American Music Awards. It also holds the record for Fastest Selling Digital Album by a Female Artist in the Guinness World Records. 'Mean', the best-performing single from the 'Speak Now' album, won two Grammy Awards.
Taylor also embarked on her first international headline tour, 'The Speak Now World Tour' in the same year.
2012: Taylor Swift's fourth album release, 'Red'
'Red' is Taylor's critically acclaimed fourth studio album and was released in 2012. It was her first album to top the UK Album Chart in the UK (with her next five album releases also going on to top the chart).
'We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together' became the lead single from her 2012 album. The single was Swift's first to peak at Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US.
Having already conquered the music industry at such young age, she released the iconic '22' song on this album, which took the world by storm and struck a chord with her fanbase.
2013: Taylor Swift's 'Red' tour begins
In 2013, the singer-songwriter embarked on her 'Red' World Tour. During this tour, she became the first female artist in history to sell out the Allianz Stadium in Sydney, Australia (with a 40,900 capacity), since it opened in 1988.
Plus, her hit song 'I Knew You Were Trouble', rumoured to be about her former love, Harry Styles, won Best Female Video at the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards. In July 2024, it was certified 3x Platinum by the BPI, translating to 1.8 MILLION sales in the UK alone. Wow!
2014: '1989', Taylor's fifth studio album, is released
Taylor released 'Shake It Off', the first single off of her fifth studio album '1989'. Achieving great success, it became her second Billboard Hot 100 Number 1 single in the US and it peaked at Number 2 in the UK Singles Chart. In June 2024, the song was certified 5x Platinum by the BPI, meaning it's seen over 3 million sales in the UK alone!
'1989' debuted at Number 1 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart with the largest sales week for an album since 2002, selling 1.287 million copies in the week ending November 2nd 2014, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It also went to Number 1 in the UK Albums Chart.
The '1989' album spent a full first year in the Top 10 in the US, making it just the fifth album to spend the first 52 weeks of its release in the Top 10.
2015: Taylor is made into a Madame Tussauds wax work
Taylor Swift gets her own waxwork in the Madame Tussauds gallery in Hollywood. Taylor later became a permanent fixture at the London Madame Tussauds in 2019.
'Bad Blood' achieved Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100. The epic 'Bad Blood' video premiered on the Billboard Music Awards. It created quite the stir by going viral instantly as it featured her star-studded friendship group including Selena Gomez, Cara Delevingne and Jessica Alba.
2016: Taylor takes home three Grammy awards!
2016 was the year that Taylor won three Grammy Awards. She won Best Music Video with 'Bad Blood', and both best Pop Vocal Album and Album Of The Year with '1989'. She became the first woman to win the Album Of The Year Award twice.
2017: Taylor releases her fifth Number 1 album 'Reputation'
'Reputation' launched after an iconic Instagram deletion and subsequent revamp ahead of its release. 'Reputation' become the super-talented singer's fifth Number 1 album on the Billboard 200 and her third UK Number 1 album. With 1.2 million copies sold in its first week, Taylor became the first artist in Nielsen Music History to do so.
2017: Taylor is one of Time Magazine's 'Silence Breakers'
Taylor's summer court case saw the singer set out to prove a point by requesting only $1 in damages. As a result of her work fighting against sexual assault and harassment, Taylor was among the individuals highlighted.
In the Time interview about the court case, Taylor revealed: "I was angry. In that moment, I decided to forego any courtroom formalities and just answer the questions the way it happened. This man hadn't considered any formalities when he assaulted me, and his lawyer didn't hold back on my mom - why should I be polite? I'm told it was the most amount of times the word 'ass' has ever been said in Colorado Federal Court."
2018: Taylor embarks on her 'Reputation' Stadium Tour
Taylor's 2018 'Reputation' tour was massively successful and broke the US record when it became the highest-grossing tour in US history. To top it off, the 38 tour show brought in ticket sales of over a whopping $2 million!
With all the drama of three stages, a ten-story screen, two lifts and LOTS of snakes, the worldwide tour was certainly a crowd pleaser!
2019: American Music Awards haul as Taylor wins six awards
2019 was the year that saw Taylor smash the record for winning the prestigious American Music Award, Artist Of The Decade, an astonishing six times!
The 'Shake It Off' singer made history at the 2019 AMAs, she became the highest-awarded person in the show's history. With an astonishing 28 total wins under her belt, she beat a record set by Michael Jackson.
2019: Cats song Golden Globe nominee
The singer-songwriter scored a Golden Globe nomination for Best Original Song for 'Beautiful Ghosts' from the Cats film, in which she also starred as Bombalurina.
2020: Taylor drops surprise albums ‘Folklore’ and ‘Evermore’
2020 saw the surprise release of Taylor's eighth album, 'Folklore', which dropped via social media. It was recorded in lockdown and was just what Swifties needed! Her recent evolutionary journey has taken her to a recent move into folk music.
'Evermore' was the songstresses' second surprise 2020 album, released only five months after 'Folklore'. With 'Folklore' and 'Evermore' described as sister records, 'Evermore' explored the themes of love, marriage and grief, picking up where 'Folklore' left. Selling a million copies globally during its first week, it definitely got the acclaim it deserved!
Taylor's fan base has grown with her own artistic development, like they have been on the journey with her. In 2020, Taylor Swift also broken another record, holding the title for most cumulative weeks spent at Number One for a female artist on the Billboard 200.
2020: Miss Americana Netflix documentary release
Taylor's Netflix documentary Miss Americana premiered at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in 2020. Explaining Taylor Swift's story from her own point of view, it offered insight into her hard-working, busy schedule. With both intimate portrayals of home life with her family and the exciting whirlwind of tours, album releases and recording in the studio.
The film also gave her the chance to address that infamous 2009 VMA's Kanye West feud. She explores the feud and how it caused her subsequent 'cancelling' but how she ultimately bounced back and rose above it!
2021: 'Fearless (Taylor's Version)'
After Taylor re-recorded her multi-million-selling 2008 album 'Fearless', we were all graced with 'Fearless (Taylor's Version) in April 2021.
The re-recording came about after talent manager Scooter Braun acquired the rights to Taylor's master recordings, from her former label Big Machine Label Group, in 2019. Reportedly, this included ownership of the singer's first six albums, from 2006 to 2017.
'Fearless (Taylor's Version)' was released through Republic Records and includes re-recorded versions of all 19 tracks from the platinum edition of 'Fearless', along with six additional 'from the vault' tracks that weren't included on the original album in 2008. Songs on the 2021 release include the iconic 'Love Story' and the world-renowned 'You Belong with Me'.
2021: BRIT Awards 2021 Global Icon
Taylor won the Global Icon Award at the BRIT Awards 2021, becoming the first female artist to ever take home the gong. In her acceptance speech, Taylor said she was "proud to be part of a musical community, especially in a year where we've needed music so much." She also paid tribute to the key workers in the audience.
2021: 'Red (Taylor's Version)'
Taylor released 'Red (Taylor's Version)' in November 2021, with rerecorded versions of the original album's songs and a 30 song track list.
The album includes a 10-minute version of 'All Too Well', and Taylor also directed a short film to accompany the song. She performed this version of the song live for the first time on SNL on 13th November.
Taylor also released her 'I Bet You Think About Me' music video directed by Blake Lively on 15th November.
2022: Taylor Swift receives an honorary doctorate
Taylor Swift received an honorary doctorate in fine arts at New York University. She also gave the commencement speech at the ceremony which was held at the Yankee Stadium.
2022: Taylor Swift confirms 'Midnights' tour
In October, the official Taylor Swift website confirmed that fans who pre-ordered her 'Midnights' album would get pre-sale access to 'forthcoming and yet to be announced Taylor Swift UK show dates'.
Fans were surprised and thrilled by the news and jumped at the chance to see her perform live, resulting in the website crashing hours after the announcement.
2022: Taylor stars in film Amsterdam
In June 2021 it was announced that Taylor was set to star in film Amsterdam alongside the likes of Margot Robbie, Christian Bale, Robert De Niro, Rami Malek and Mike Myers. It was released in October 2022 to rave reviews!
2022: Taylor has written a film script
In December 2022, it was announced that Taylor has actually penned a film script which is being put into production! Presidents of Searchlight Pictures David Greenbaum and Matthew Greenfield said: "Taylor is a once in a generation artist and storyteller. It is a genuine joy and privilege to collaborate with her as she embarks on this exciting and new creative journey."
2023: Grammy Award win
Taylor won a Grammy Award in February 2023, taking home the Best Music Video gong for 'All Too Well: The Short Film'!
2023: Taylor Swift announces UK dates for her 'Eras' tour
Taylor Swift announced UK dates for her 'Eras' tour in June 2023. The singer announced that she will be performing in Liverpool, Edinburgh, Cardiff and London in June 2024, before returning for more dates in London in August.
July 2023 - 'Anti-Hero' hits a billion streams
In July 2023, Taylor's song 'Anti-Hero' surpassed a billion streams on Spotify. Taylor also has three other tracks in the Billions Club - 'Shake It Off' and 'Blank Space' from the album 1989, and her collab with Zayn Malik, 'I Don't Wanna Live Forever'.
September 2023: Taylor wins nine awards at the MTV Video Music Awards
Taylor won an incredible nine awards at the 2023 MTV Video Music Awards, winning an award in every category she was nominated in. The win took Taylor to an astonishing 18 VMA Awards in total, just two behind the overall record held by Madonna.
October 2023: Taylor releases '1989' (Taylor's Version) and 'Eras Tour' film
In August 2023, Taylor confirmed the highly-anticipated release date for '1989' (Taylor's Version). The re-recording of her 2014 album was then released on 27th October, featuring five previously unreleased tracks.
October 2023 also saw the release of her 'Eras Tour' movie, with the concert film hitting cinemas across the world. The film returned to the big screen later in December - 13th, to be exact - on Taylor's birthday. You can now stream the 'Eras Tour' film on Disney+.
December 2023: 'Eras Tour' achieves numerous Guinness World Records
By December 2023, Taylor had achieved a total of 118 Guinness World Records - including a whopping seven for the 'Eras Tour' alone! The tour became the first in history to surpass $1 billion in revenue - bagging Guinness World Records in 2023 for the following: Highest-grossing Concert or Performance film at the Global Box office, Highest-grossing Music Tour, Highest-grossing Music Tour by a Female Artist, Highest-grossing Music Tour in a Single Year, Highest-grossing Music Tour by a Female Artist, Highest-grossing Music Tour by a Solo Artist and Highest-grossing Music Tour Per Concert by a Female Artist.
February 2024: Historic Grammy win
Taylor Swift picked up two Grammy Awards at the prestigious ceremony in 2024, following a whopping six nominations. The singer won awards for Best Pop Vocal Album and Album of the Year - making history at the event as this is the first time an artist has won the Album of the Year award four times.
February 2024: 'The Tortured Poets Department' album announcement
Not only did Taylor make history at the Grammy Awards 2024, but she announced the huge news that her 11th studio album was on the way. In her acceptance speech for Best Pop Vocal Album, she revealed she had been keeping a 'secret' for two years, going on to announce her 11th studio album 'The Tortured Poets Department' was on the way and was set for release on 19th April 2024.
April 2024: Taylor releases 'The Tortured Poets Department'
Taylor's 11th studio album 'The Tortured Poets Department' was released on Friday 19th April 2024, to huge acclaim from both fans and critics alike. One week after its release, it was certified Gold by the BPI - translating to 100,000 sales in the UK alone; and two weeks after release, was certified Platinum... Meaning 300,000 sales in the UK. Wow!
You can hear songs by Taylor Swift on Downtown Radio.
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