Taylor Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl ends the year as the most-certified 2025 album, as it moved five million equivalent units in less than two months. SINGAPORE, SINGAPORE – MARCH 02: EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NO BOOK COVERS Taylor Swift performs during “Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour” at the National Stadium on March 02, 2024 in Singapore. (Photo by Ashok Kumar/TAS24/Getty Images for TAS Rights Management)
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Taylor Swift stands in a league of her own in one of the most competitive industries on the planet. The singer-songwriter is far and away the most commercially successful artist at the moment, and she has claimed that distinction for years.
2025 was another huge year for the superstar, thanks to the release of her blockbuster album The Life of a Showgirl. As 2026 nears, that project has been named the biggest title released this year by the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) in terms of total number of units certified, and it beat the competition with a sizable margin.
Taylor Swift Ends 2025 With RIAA Dominance
The RIAA tracks and certifies songs and albums after they have shifted a confirmed number of units. The organization recently unveiled its Class of 2025, which details the singles and projects released this year that performed most impressively.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 04: Taylor Swift attends the 66th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on February 04, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for The Recording Academy)
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The Life of a Showgirl is the highest-certified 2025 album, as the RIAA has honored it with five platinum plaques. The quintuple-platinum success means that Swift’s latest has moved five million equivalent units between pure sales and streaming activity.
Taylor Swift Beats Cardi B by Several Million Copies
The Life of a Showgirl beats its closest competition by two million equivalent units. Cardi B’s long-awaited sophomore set Am I the Drama? is the only other title released within the 2025 calendar year to become a multi-platinum smash. Am I the Drama? ends up just behind The Life of a Showgirl as a triple-platinum win.
The Life of a Showgirl Moved Millions of Units in a Few Weeks
The fact that Swift lands the No. 1 spot on the RIAA end-of-year list is not surprising. How quickly The Life of a Showgirl was able to rack up its five million equivalent units moved, however, is rather astounding.
Swift dropped the project on October 3, which means that her full-length only had about two months – since the RIAA has already unveiled its list – in which to sell and stream. Despite that handicap, it easily lands in the No. 1 position.
Taylor Swift Reset the All-Time First-Week Debut Record
Of the five million units that The Life of a Showgirl has shifted in its still-short lifespan, four million were moved in its first tracking week alone. Swift broke all-time records as her latest studio LP became the first title in American history to reach that landmark figure in only seven days.
Taylor Swift Returns to No. 1 after Stray Kids Pushed Her Down
As of the time of writing, The Life of a Showgirl has lived on the Billboard charts for nine weeks. Swift’s fifteenth No. 1 on the Billboard 200 has now led the charge on the company’s list of the most consumed albums for eight nonconsecutive frames.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – MAY 06: (L-R) I.N, Lee Know, Han, Felix, Seungmin, Changbin, Hyunjin and Bang Chan of Stray Kids attend The 2024 Met Gala Celebrating “Sleeping Beauties: Reawakening Fashion” at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 06, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Cindy Ord/MG24/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue)
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The Life of a Showgirl only stepped aside recently, as Do It, the latest EP by South Korean boy band Stray Kids, bested her, becoming the first title to do so since Swift’s album debuted. The Life of a Showgirl returns to the summit this frame with almost 100,000 equivalent units shifted, according to Luminate.
Which 2025 Albums Went Platinum?
Just half a dozen additional albums released at some point in 2025 have already earned platinum plaques from the RIAA, meaning they have moved at least one million units. Here are all the titles that end the year at that level:
- Alex Warren – You’ll Be All Right, Kid
- Drake and PartyNextDoor – Some Sexy Songs 4 U
- KPop Demon Hunters cast – KPop Demon Hunters soundtrack
- Lady Gaga – Mayhem
- Sabrina Carpenter – Man’s Best Friend
- Tate McRae – So Close to What
Which Albums Released in 2025 Have Been Certified Gold?
Five other albums that arrived this year have reached gold status, which means they managed half a million units. Two titles by Stray Kids – Hop and Karma – join projects by newcomers Gigi Perez, Myles Smith, and Tucker Wetmore in this distinction.