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BuzzJack Music Forum _ UK Charts _ OCC: 21 turns 10; how Adele's second album took over
Posted by: Liam.k. 25th January 2021, 01:59 PM
25 January 2021 | By Rob Copsey
A decade ago, Adele unleashed a tornado on the charts with the release of her second album 21.
Anticipation around the record had initially been high - her 2008 debut topped the charts and earned her a Grammy for Best New Artist - but the weeks leading up 21's release saw the hype machine whirr into overdrive. Its lead single Rolling In The Deep dominated radio, while spot performances of some of the album’s tracks on TV proved this record was special - a definitive breakup album the world could relate to.
Posting on Instagram, Adele admits she can remember very little about the time, so, ten years on from its release, here’s a reminder of just how successful 21 was...
1. 21 is the UK’s best-selling album of the 21st Century
With 5 million sales (208,000 of which were in its first week), 21 is also the UK’s fourth best-selling album of all-time. Only Queen's Greatest Hits, The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Abba's Gold have sold more. Adele is the only solo female artist in the all-time Top 10. Check out the full list here.
2. 21 was the longest-running UK Number 1 album for 45 years.
21 spent a total of 23 weeks at Number 1, the first 11 of which were consecutive. It was the most amount of weeks at Number 1 for an album since Simon and Garfunkel’s 33-week chart topper Bridge Over Troubled Water in 1970. 21 didn't exit the Top 3 for its first eight months of release. View 21's week-by-week UK chart run here.
3. 21 took six weeks to hit one million sales in the UK
And it didn’t slow down from there, taking 13 weeks to hit two million sales, 33 weeks to hit three million, and 57 weeks to hit four million. 21's biggest week of sales arrived some nine weeks after its release, when it sold 257,000 copies in a single week. Proving its staying power, in 2020 the album had average weekly chart sales (including streams) of 1,213.
4. 21’s first two singles Rolling In The Deep and Someone Like You are million sellers
Rolling In The Deep – a bluesy foot-stomper rooted firmly in the denial stage of grief – reached Number 2 on the Official Singles Chart (held off Number 1 by Bruno Mars) and has 1.1 million pure sales. Meanwhile, Someone Like You spent five non-consecutive weeks at the top, launching to Number 1 following her emotional performance at the 2011 BRIT Awards. The track has 1.67 million pure sales, making it the UK’s 25th best-selling single ever.
5. 21 was the world’s biggest album for two years running.
21 sold 18 million globally in 2011 and 8.3 million the following year. In the UK, it was the best-selling album of 2011, having sold 3.77 million by the end of the year, and the second best-seller of 2012.
https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/adeles-21-turns-10-how-the-singers-second-album-took-over-the-charts__32275/?fbclid=IwAR2IiPwh0KbNyjZ3zaPVuRh3MOv8XUiL0B0OoMOdGvZDxVgZPbkloo1RJn4
Posted by: DarrenJ77 25th January 2021, 02:07 PM
10 years! Time really does fly by
Interesting to see how album 4 does when it lands
Posted by: Bjork 25th January 2021, 02:24 PM
do they give an updated figure?
Posted by: Robbie 25th January 2021, 04:02 PM
An interesting little factoid: when riots broke out in London in August 2011, the Sony DADC distribution centre in Enfield was set on fire and completely destroyed. Among the many CDs that were destroyed were 500,000 copies of '21'. Those 500,000 albums were certified by the BPI as having been shipped (there was no automatic certification scheme at the time, the label had to apply for an award). When those copies were replaced by new stock the label were unable to claim an additional certification award on the grounds that the albums would technically have been shipped twice.
Posted by: ben08 25th January 2021, 06:18 PM
The OCC adds,
" the 5 million figure refers to pure sales (i.e. discounting streams)."
Posted by: Liam.k. 25th January 2021, 06:19 PM
It's sold 5.243m to date.
Posted by: spiceboy 25th January 2021, 11:41 PM
According to this article it on 5,920,000 sales.
https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/artists-who-beat-the-second-album-slump__19500/
Posted by: Robbie 26th January 2021, 12:17 AM
https://www.officialcharts.com/chart-news/artists-who-beat-the-second-album-slump__19500/
Posted by: Bjork 26th January 2021, 09:50 AM
^thats a typo for sure, otherwise it would have been certified for passing first 5.4 and then 5.7
her last certificate from April 2020 is for 5.1 mil (Platinum x 17)
Posted by: common sense 26th January 2021, 05:42 PM
Great stats but I actually prefer 25 now.
Posted by: Tawdry Hepburn 26th January 2021, 06:50 PM
10 years!
This was crazy, I've never seen an act dominate on this level. I doubt I ever will again.
Posted by: Dot Branning 26th January 2021, 07:24 PM
Not to knock it's achievements but personally I would rank '21' as third behind '19' and '25'.
Posted by: Bjork 26th January 2021, 09:44 PM
Really? for me it's:
21 >>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
19>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>25
Posted by: Dot Branning 27th January 2021, 12:51 AM
19 has always been my favourite containing some of the Adele tracks I regularly go back to like 'Hometown Glory', 'Cold Shoulder' & 'Melt My Heart To Stone'.
Don't get me wrong I loved 21 when it was first released and I still think it's a great album but in retrospect I enjoy 25 more.
Posted by: Scene 27th January 2021, 02:27 PM
This was crazy, I've never seen an act dominate on this level. I doubt I ever will again.
Same here! I wasn't really paying much attention to Adele's second era until the 2011 BRITs (I'm sure I'm not alone here lol) - and what a performance that was! She singlehandedly changed the music scene with that performance and the whole album. Tracking the charts in 2011 were extremely fun and Adele contributed a lot to that! Didn't she occupy the top two positions on iTunes which two versions of Someone Like You (BRITs and album version) after the awards?
I can't imagine we will see such a chart force for a long time yet.
Posted by: dandy* 29th January 2021, 11:42 AM
It will be very interesting to see how Adele's next album performs, it will be the best indicator we will have as to whether the album format is dead for everyone or not.
Posted by: spiceboy 29th January 2021, 11:47 AM
21 is my favourite Adele album easily. While I feel like 19 and 25 have some better songs (Hometown glory, When we were young) 21 is more consistent than the other two, there genuinely isn't a bad track on there from start to finish. Also it feels more raw and personal than the other two. 21 is in my top 10 favourite albums ever, can't wait for 30 whenever that get's released! Probably not this year with the continuing pandemic sadly.
Posted by: garyfeld 31st January 2021, 04:22 PM
The last pure sales figure i have for "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" - The Beatles, is 5,198,291
so has 25 now passed it?
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