Written by Staff Writer
Adele’s third album “25” has become the fastest-selling album ever in both the United States and the United Kingdom, although its peak week in the former was only in Britain, the Official Charts Company said Wednesday.
The English singer, who was born and raised in London, made worldwide headlines in January 2015 when she released “25” — which quickly became the top-selling album of the year — and sold almost 10 million copies in the US and UK in the year that followed.
“25” has outsold the entire number of albums sold by the rest of the top 10 sellers combined — which also include Ed Sheeran’s “Divide,” Taylor Swift’s “Reputation,” Sam Smith’s “The Thrill of It All” and Pink Floyd’s “The Endless River.”
Adele’s “25” gave her the best week of her career in the UK — when it was released — but she didn’t match her US performance.
“25” became available in the US on January 23 and sold 647,000 copies in a single week, her second best-ever week. But it hasn’t yet broken the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart record — held by Michael Jackson and Britney Spears — of 1.07 million sales in a single week.
Adele’s “25” — released in 2014 — went straight to number one in the United States and the United Kingdom, and remains the best-selling album of the 21st century in the UK.
“I’m so pleased that such a huge number of my fans are still buying my music and having a great time with it,” Adele said in a statement when “25” was released. “To now have the Number 1 album and best-selling album of the 21st century — after only three years — makes me feel incredibly proud and feels fantastic!”