Adele Is Now Bigger Than Taylor Swift And Beyoncé
Move over, Taylor Swift and Beyoncé, there is a new queen in town, and her name is Adele. Billboard has the news.
“Adele’s ’25’ made music sales history, earned a milestone debut on the Billboard 200 chart, and instantly became the year’s top selling album in the U.S. in just one week (with 3.38 million sold!).”
Billboard adds that Adele’s album beats the previous record held by NSYNC’s No Strings Attached, which sold 2.42 million copies in the week ending March 26, 2000. And that was when albums actually sold. These days, a hit album barely sells over 1 million copies.
According to the article from Billboard, Adele has broken some other records, as well.
“41 Percent of All Albums Sold Last Week Were 25: In total for the week, there were 8.2 million albums sold in the U.S. Thus, 25‘s 3.38 million represented 41 percent of all albums sold in America.”
Adele easily beat sales of Taylor Swift’s 1989, which — according to USA Today —sold 1.287 copies in its first week. 1989 became the only album in 2014 to sell over one million copies during the first week of its release. As Billboard noted at the end of 2014, Taylor Swift had the year’s top selling album.
“It came down to the wire, but in the final week of 2014, Swift’s 1989 finishes as the year’s top selling album. After only nine weeks on sale, Swift’s set stole the title away from Walt Disney Records’ Frozen soundtrack in the very last tracking frame of the year.”
The article adds that 1989 sold 3.66 million copies in 2014, while Frozen sold 3.53 million copies. One can expect that by the end of 2015, Adele’s 25 will sell more than 1989 and Frozen combined. In a way, Adele has become the female Michael Jackson.
Adele didn’t release an album in 2013, but Beyoncé’s surprise self-titled album — released at the end of 2013 — broke records. CBS News reported on Beyoncé’s victory at the end of 2013.
The album went on to sell more than one million copies in the United States and more than five million copies worldwide. Beyoncé was considered one of the best albums of the year by critics, and many were upset when it didn’t win a Grammy for Album of the Year. Still, the success of Beyoncé’s album couldn’t come close to matching what both Taylor Swift and Adele had in store.
After conquering the music charts, Adele is now set to conquer the box office as she has just announced her first tour since 2011. NME has the news.
“In a move comparable to the release of a new Smiths album or John Virgo bowing to intense global pressure to return to the arena of the televised trick shot, Adele has announced that she will be singing in public in a series of giant arenas next year. It’s big news not just because Adele is the biggest artist on the planet, but also because she’s repeatedly talked about her dislike for performing in front of large crowds.”
So far, the tour only includes dates in the U.K., Ireland, and other European locations. However, dates in the United States are expected to be announced soon. Are you going to see Adele in concert? Let us know in the comments section.
[Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP]
