Adele announces first tour in five years for new album ’25’

It has smashed American sales records, having sold 2.8 million copies in the first five days, including 1.45 million digital sales, according to Nielsen Music.

Bakula said that it should easily double the 1.29 million first-week figure that Taylor Swift’s “1989” registered in October 2014, which became the fast-selling album in more than a decade.

The star hasn’t made the album, released through XL/Columbia Records, available on music streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music, however her previous albums “19” and “21”, as well as “Hello”, are available for streaming.

Adele’s “25” is the follow up after her hit album “21”, which was released in 2011 and proved to be a blockbuster.

Immediately, I fell in love with “Million Years Ago”, a dreamy harmony akin to the background music one would hear in a Parisian cafe in the spring.

Adele, announcing the tour in a brief video on her website, said the reports of her fear of performing had been exaggerated.

To date, Adele, who favours small shows, has played a total of 129 gigs to just 240,971 fans.

Her album has rescued this year’s flagging record industry sales, and this week sold more copies than the next 86 albums in the chart combined. Forecasters said that “25” could finish the week with three million sales.

Sales numbers for the album were helped along by its lack of presence on streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music. The artist seems determined to hold her side of the bargain, now that her new album has already managed to set a new record with 25.

Hello was released on October 23 as a single-song teaser for the album which has 10 other songs. That track alone has sold 2.5 million copies in the four weeks it has been on the market.

Adele’s third studio album is already the biggest selling album of 2015.