ADELE’S ‘21’ TOPS 5 MILLION SALES IN U.S., FIRT CD TO HIT MARK SINCE ’04

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

British singer, favorite for multiple Grammys, sells over 15 million copies worldwide

BY Ethan Sacks
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

Wednesday, December 28 2011

Adele is finishing 2011 — a year she dominated with two hit singles, award nominations and flawless critical reviews — on an even higher note.

The 23-year-old British soul singer has sold more than 5 million copies of her sophomore album, “21,” in the U.S., the first artist to hit that milestone in one year since Usher moved 7.9 million copies of “Confessions,” Reuters reported. Adele has sold more than 15 million copies of the CD worldwide.
It’s the cherry on the proverbial sundae for Adele, who notched six Grammy nominations earlier this month and is favored for Song, Record and Album of the Year.
The album sales data is even more impressive considering the increasing trend toward fans listening to music digitally, ordering one song at a time.
“In 2004, you had one massive album driving sales,” Nielsen analyst David Bakula told Reuters. “This year is similar in that you have one really great story that everyone is talking about.”
The success of “21,” named for the artist’s age at the time she recorded it, has also included two hit singles, “Rolling in the Deep” and “Someone Like You.”
Adele Adkins is now taking a break, recovering from throat surgery in November to remove a benign polyp from her vocal cords. The operation forced her to cancel the rest of her North American tour dates this year, MTV News reported.
The surgery, however, couldn't slow a musical juggernaut that has many critics calling “21” an album for the ages — not just 2011.
“From start to finish, it shows Adele in alpha mode, ready to outshout any big-mouth singer of the last two decades, from Celine to Christina to [sigh\] Whitney,” wrote the News’ Jim Farber in his review of the album.