“Cardigan” made Taylor Swift the first artist to debut at number one on both the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard 200 in the same week. Swift released the song in 2020 as the lead single from Folklore.
The achievement reflected an unusual release strategy. Folklore was announced and released with little advance notice during the COVID-19 pandemic, and Swift’s large digital, streaming, and physical audience created immediate demand for both the album and its lead track. “Cardigan” opened atop the Hot 100 while Folklore opened atop the Billboard 200.
The song is a soft indie-folk recording built around a fictional teenage love triangle shared with “August” and “Betty.” Some readers confuse the achievement with “Willow,” which also debuted at number one and accompanied the release of Evermore. However, the simultaneous album-and-single debut record belongs to “Cardigan” and Folklore. Swift later repeated other forms of chart dominance, but this specific two-chart opening was first achieved in 2020.