Taylor Swift’s re-recorded version of Fearless reaches No. 1 on US Apple Music Top Albums chart

Taylor Swift‘s re-recorded version of her 2008 album Fearless has already hit No. 1 on the US Apple Music Top Albums chart in less than 24 hours.

The updated version to her sophomore LP had a lot to live up to considering the original would garner the singer-songwriter her very first Grammy win for Album Of The Year.

Fearless is the first of six albums that she plans to re-record and release as a way to regain creative control of her music following the sale of her past catalog ‘without her knowledge.’

Top spot: Taylor Swift’s re-recorded version of her 2008 album Fearless has already hit No. 1 on the US Apple Music Top Albums in less than 24 hours

Upon the release of Fearless (Taylor’s Version) at midnight on Thursday, the pop superstar took to social media to mark the moment, posting: ‘It was the night things changed. Fearless (Taylor’s Version) is out now’. 

She added a throwback image of herself onstage playing guitar for her followers.  

Fearless (Taylor’s Version) features 26 songs and six previously unheard tracks. 

In the lead up, Swift released the first single — Love Story (Taylor’s Version), the re-recorded version of her original 2008 rendition, as well as two new tracks — You All Over Me with Maren Morris and Mr. Perfectly Fine.   

Regaining creative control: Swift released her own version of her 2008 album Fearless on Thursday following the sale of her master recordings and promoted it on social media

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Love Story (Taylor’s Version) topped the Billboard Digital Songs and Hot Country Songs charts. She also joined Dolly Parton as the only music artist to reach No. 1 on the Hot Country Songs with both the original and re-recorded versions of a song.  

Keith Urban, whom the Cardigan hitmaker supported on the Escape Together World Tour in 2009, duets with Swift on That’s When (From the Vault), and the Australian superstar also added harmonies to the song We Were Happy (From the Vault).

Bye Bye Baby concludes the six unreleased cuts from the updated version of Fearless.

The final song on the track-listing is the bonus remix of Love Story (Taylor’s Version) by Elvira Anderfjärd, a Swedish producer who has worked with the likes of Katy Perry and Tove Lo.  

Things changed: ‘It was the night things changed. Fearless (Taylor’s Version) is out now,’ Swift posted for her roughly 153 million followers on Instagram and 88.7 million on Twitter

Record executive Scooter Braun gained ownership of Swift’s past music catalog when he purchased her first label, Big Machine Records, in June 2019.

Incensed that she didn’t have a chance to buy back her work, she went public with her idea to re-record all six albums three months later. 

But then, in November 2020, Braun sold the rights to her first six albums to the private equity company Shamrock Holdings, in a deal said to be worth over $300 million, according to Variety.

Determined to keep ownership of her future music, Swift signed a new agreement with Universal Music Group in 2019 giving her the rights to all future masters, which would include her surprise albums Folklore and Evermore, as well as 2019’s Lover.      

Old and new: Fearless (Taylor’s Version) features 26 songs and six previously unheard tracks

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Back catalog: Taylor announced in August 2019 that she was going to re-record her first six albums after failing to acquire her back catalog that was bought and sold by Scooter Braun

Released in 2008, Fearless was Swift’s second studio album, which went on to become a critical and commercial success with its crossover singles Love Story and You Belong With Me.

The album went on to win four Grammy Awards at the 52nd ceremony and helped cement the Pennsylvania native as one of the biggest performers of her generation.   

Although Swift has retained the publishing rights to her songs, and makes money every time someone streams them or purchases a download or a CD from the compositions, she didn’t own the actual master recordings, which were originally held by her record label Big Machine. 

In a sign of devotion, her fans, known as Swifties, are currently trying to make the original recordings disappear on Spotify.

The Twitter account Taylor Swift Updates has been sharing a how-to guide to hiding all the old versions of her albums and songs on Spotify to ensure fans automatically get the re-recordings.     

Second album: Fearless was Taylor’s second studio album and upon its release in 2008 became a critical and commercial success for the singer; she seen in November 2008 in LA