Taylor Swift's "The Life of a Showgirl" has secured an impressive 11th nonconsecutive week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart, dated January 3, 2026. This achievement follows a strong performance in the week ending December 15, where the album garnered 141,000 equivalent album units in the United States, marking a significant 35% increase. A key factor in this boost for a second consecutive week was the release of three new color vinyl variants, exclusively offered through Swift’s webstore. These limited-edition variants were available for pre-order on November 24 for a 24-hour window or while supplies lasted, with shipping to customers scheduled to commence around December 19. It is important to note that such mail-order sales are only counted towards chart performance once they are shipped to customers.

"The Life of a Showgirl" now stands alongside Swift's highly successful albums "1989" (2014-15) and "Fearless" (2008-09), each of which also commanded the No. 1 spot for 11 weeks. Among Swift's remarkable catalog of 15 No. 1 albums—the most for any soloist—only "The Tortured Poets Department" holds a longer reign, with an astounding 17 weeks atop the chart in 2024.

Coinciding with the chart's tracking week ending on Christmas Day for the first time since 2014, the latest Billboard 200 also features a record-breaking seven holiday albums within its top 10. Leading this festive parade is Bing Crosby’s "Ultimate Christmas," which soared to a new peak position at No. 2. This marks a significant milestone for holiday music on the charts.

The previous record for the most holiday titles simultaneously populating the top 10 was six, a feat achieved multiple times, most recently on the December 27-dated chart of the previous week. Historically, the first instance of six holiday albums in the top 10 occurred on the January 5, 1959, chart, featuring holiday sets from iconic artists such as Mitch Miller, Bing Crosby, Johnny Mathis, Tennessee Ernie Ford, Mantovani, and Perry Como.

The Billboard 200 chart meticulously ranks the most popular albums in the U.S. each week based on multi-metric consumption, as measured in equivalent album units compiled by Luminate. These units are composed of album sales, track equivalent albums (TEA), and streaming equivalent albums (SEA). Specifically, one equivalent album unit is equal to either one album sale, 10 individual tracks sold from an album, or 3,750 ad-supported on-demand official audio and video streams, or 1,250 paid/subscription on-demand official audio and video streams generated by songs from an album. The full January 3, 2026-dated chart will be published on Billboard’s website on December 30, with further chart news available via @billboard and @billboardcharts on X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram.

Delving into the 141,000 equivalent album units earned by "The Life of a Showgirl" in the latest tracking week, album sales contributed 97,000 units, representing a substantial 76% increase, allowing it to maintain its No. 1 position on the Top Album Sales chart. SEA units accounted for 43,000 units, a modest 11% decrease, translating to 56.23 million on-demand official streams of the album’s tracks, which saw it drop from No. 6 to No. 16 on Top Streaming Albums. Lastly, TEA units made up 1,000 units, showing a slight increase of less than 1%.

Bing Crosby’s "Ultimate Christmas" demonstrated an exceptional performance, earning 110,000 equivalent album units, an impressive 68% increase, which propelled it four spots to its new peak at No. 2. Nearly all of this sum, 106,000 units, comprised SEA units, equating to a staggering 140.71 million on-demand official streams of the album’s songs. This remarkable figure not only marks the late Crosby’s best streaming week ever for an album but also stands as the biggest streaming week ever for any holiday album. "Ultimate Christmas" surpassed its own previous record, which was 125.77 million streams on the January 4, 2025-dated chart, when it reached its prior high of No. 3 on the Billboard 200. Furthermore, the album climbed from No. 2 to No. 1 on the Top Streaming Albums chart for the first time. The album features beloved Holiday 100-charting classics such as "White Christmas" (featuring The Ken Darby Singers and John Scott Trotter and His Orchestra), "It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas," "Do You Hear What I Hear?" and "Mele Kalikimaka" (with The Andrews Sisters).

Beyond Crosby, other holiday albums made significant moves within the top 10. Michael Bublé’s former No. 1 album "Christmas" ascended from No. 5 to No. 3, with 104,000 equivalent album units (up 51%). Nat King Cole’s "The Christmas Song" rose from No. 5 to No. 4, securing 93,000 units (up 70%). The various artists project "A Christmas Gift for You From Phil Spector" achieved a new best, jumping from No. 9 to No. 5 with 81,000 units (up 70%), surpassing its previous No. 7 peak from January 6, 2024. Vince Guaraldi Trio’s soundtrack to "A Charlie Brown Christmas" moved up one spot to No. 7 with 74,000 units (up 49%). Mariah Carey’s iconic "Merry Christmas" jingled from No. 10 to No. 8 with 72,000 units (up 58%). Finally, Frank Sinatra’s "Ultimate Christmas" hit a new high, rising from No. 12 to No. 9 with 65,000 units (up 65%), besting its prior No. 10 peak on the January 4-dated chart.

Among the three non-holiday titles present in the top 10, Morgan Wallen’s chart-topping "I’m the Problem" dropped from No. 2 to No. 6, earning 75,000 equivalent album units (up 3%). Rounding out the top 10 was the former No. 1 soundtrack to "KPop Demon Hunters," which fell from No. 4 to No. 10 with 62,000 equivalent album units (down 13%).

Luminate, the independent data provider for the Billboard charts, plays a crucial role in ensuring the accuracy and integrity of the weekly chart rankings. They conduct a thorough review and authentication process for all data submissions. In collaboration with Billboard, any data deemed suspicious or unverifiable is meticulously removed, based on established criteria, before the final chart calculations are made and published.