Adele’s 25 Sold More Copies in One Week Than Any Album Ever

Adele didn’t release an album in 2013, but Beyoncé’s surprise self-titled album – released at the end of 2013 – broke records.

On Sunday, Billboard reported the singer’s third album sold 3.38 million copies in the USA, a record for single-week sales according to Nielsen Music. Behind 25 is Taylor Swift’s 1989, which sold just 1.8 million in sales this year. However, it should also be noted that her two previously released records – 21 and 19 – both re-entered the top 20 this week, despite being readily available across popular streaming services Spotify and Apple Music.

Billboard magazine, which runs the benchmark U.S. chart, earlier predicted that “25” would sell around 2.9 million copies in its first week in the United States. That’s a staggering 355 copies sold per minute, and more than double the sales of the rest of the debut album charts combined.

AP The cover art for “25”, which became the first album to sell more than 3 million copies in a week.

Clearly, Adele is simply in another stratosphere when it comes to selling albums. The only album that has come close to competing with Adele’s new album is Justin Bieber’s “Purpose”.

Heidi Gutman/AP Adele’s “25” sold more copies in its first week than any other record has in history.

With so much demand for Adele and her album, some are wondering how this unassuming British singer/songwriter was able to score so many hits and sell so many albums. As AceShowbiz reports citing Nielsen Music, the British singer’s comeback project collects 3.48 million equivalent units in its first week.

It was a foregone conclusion that Adele would rank at #1 on the Billboard album charts this week, but few expected that she would chart two albums in the top ten.

Adele fans – what do you think of the pop diva being crowned the new goddess and taking Taylor Swift’s throne? It is the first album in Nielsen Music (the agency that tracks official sales numbers of music in America) history.

Eminem, 50 Cent and Lil Wayne all have albums with sales of more than a million copies in a single week.