Lover (Live from Paris)
Lover (Live from Paris) is the third live album by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, released on May 19, 2020 via Republic Records.[1] A Valentine's Day reissue, it was released on February 14, 2023, as a limited-edition vinyl record sold via Swift's webstore exclusively. It consists of two heart-shaped LPs containing the live recordings of the eight songs from Swift's seventh studio album, Lover (2019), that she performed at City of Lover, her one-day concert at the Olympia theater, Paris, on September 9, 2019. It charted in Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, and topped the US Billboard Vinyl Albums chart.
Background and release[edit]
Swift released her seventh studio album, Lover, on August 23, 2019, via Republic Records.[2] She described Lover as a record exploring all forms of love, acting as a "love letter to love".[3] It received positive reviews from music critics,[4] and enjoyed wide commercial success.[5] To celebrate the album's release, Swift held the City of Lover, a one-off concert, at the Olympia theater in Paris, France, on September 9, 2019.[6] It would become Swift's only concert to support Lover,[6] as her planned sixth concert tour, Lover Fest, was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[7]
On May 17, 2020, the concert was aired as a one-hour special, titled Taylor Swift: City of Lover, on ABC, and was eventually made available for on-demand streaming on Hulu and Disney+.[8][9] Media outlets opined that the TV special was an alternative to the canceled tour.[10] The TV special only included the eight songs from Lover that were performed at the concert, and excluded the songs she had performed from her other albums.[11] Following the special's premiere, the live versions were released as singles on digital music and streaming platforms,[12] except "The Man", which had been previously available for streaming since February 18, 2020.[13] The songs were available together as a streaming album only through SoundCloud.[1]
On February 13, 2023, Lover (Live from Paris) was announced by Swift's official fan account as a limited-edition vinyl album for release on Valentine's Day via Republic Records.[14] Each package contains two heart-shaped LPs—one pink and the other blue—and was made available for purchase on Swift's webstore exclusively. Lover (Live from Paris) is Swift's third live album, following Speak Now World Tour – Live (2011), Live from Clear Channel Stripped 2008 (2020), and preceding Folklore: The Long Pond Studio Sessions (From the Disney+ Special) (2020).[15] Billboard reported that a total of 13,000 copies of the album were available for purchase in the US.[16]
Commercial performance[edit]
Lover (Live from Paris) was the best-selling vinyl album in the United States for the chart week dated March 4, 2023. It topped the Billboard Vinyl Albums chart as Swift's ninth number-one album on the chart,[17] landed at number five on the Top Album Sales chart by selling out all of its 13,000 available copies,[16] and debuted at number 58 on the overall Billboard 200.[18] Alongside the live album's entry on the Billboard 200 chart dated March 4, 2023, Swift charted nine other albums,[note 1] becoming the first artist in history to place at least 10 albums on the Billboard 200 simultaneously since American musician Prince in 2016; Swift is the first living soloist to chart 10 albums in a single week since 1963.[16]