RED

Red is the fourth studio album by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. It was released on October 22, 2012, by Big Machine Records, as the follow-up to her third studio album, Speak Now (2010). It was announced through Swift's live webchat on August 13, 2012, in which she also revealed the album title and cover. Four promotional singles were released in the month leading up to the album release, three of which debuted inside the top ten of the US Billboard Hot 100. The album features collaborations with producers and guest artists such as Gary Lightbody of Snow Patrol and Ed Sheeran and sees Swift experimenting with new musical genres. Swift is currently headlining the Red Tour in support of her record. Red received generally positive reviews, with music critics praising Swift's versatility as a musician and her experiments with new music genres, straying from her usual country sounds. The album sold 1.28 million copies in its first week in the US, debuting at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, the second-highest debut for a female artist, behind Oops!... I Did It Again (2000) by Britney Spears. It has also spent 16 non-consecutive weeks at number one on Billboard's Country Albums chart as of mid-March 2013. Red became Swift's first chart-topper in the UK, and also topped the album charts in Australia, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand. The album sold 1.89 million copies in its first three weeks, surpassing One Direction's Up All Night as the second biggest-selling album of the year in the US. As of February 2014, the album had sold over 4 million copies in the United States. Swift has received awards and nominations for Red. At the 56th Grammy Awards, Red was nominated for Best Country Album and Album of the Year, marking Swift's second nomination for Album of the Year at the Grammys, following her 2010 victory with Fearless (2008).