Posted February 28, 201213 yr The Official Charts Company can today reveal that sales of Adele’s 21 have overtaken those of Michael Jackson’s Bad in the UK. Adele’s second album, 21, smashed the 4 million sales barrier after her BRITs performance last week and went on to bag the Number 1 spot on the Official Albums Chart for its 21st non-consecutive week at the summit. It has now sold nearly 61,000 more copies than The King Of Pop’s classic 1987 album, Bad. Released on January 24, 2011, 21 has spent 57 weeks on the Official Albums Chart and has never left the Top 10. In just over a year it has sold over 4,020,000 copies, making it not only the biggest selling album of the 21st Century, but also the eighth biggest selling album of all time. If 21’s post-BRITs momentum continues, in the next few weeks it could also eclipse sales of Pink Floyd’s 1973 album Dark Side Of the Moon (7) and Dire Straits’ 1985 album, Brothers In Arms (6). “This is another incredible achievement to cap a year of incredible achievements for Adele,” comments the Official Charts Company’s managing director Martin Talbot. “By overtaking Bad, 21 has truly, officially cemented Adele’s place among the all-time greats. Who would bet against her improving further on that achievement, by taking steps towards the all-time Top 5?” The Official Charts’ Top 10 biggest selling albums of all time are as follows: 01 GREATEST HITS – QUEEN (5,863,000) 02 SGT PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND – THE BEATLES (5,044,000) 03 GOLD: GREATEST HITS – ABBA (4,989,000) 04 WHAT'S THE STORY MORNING GLORY – OASIS (4,517,000) 05 THRILLER - MICHAEL JACKSON (4,248,000) 06 BROTHERS IN ARMS - DIRE STRAITS (4,152,000) 07 THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON - PINK FLOYD (4,114,000) 08 21 – ADELE (4,020,000) 09 BAD - MICHAEL JACKSON (3,959,000) 10 GREATEST HITS II – QUEEN (3,887,000) © 2012 THE OFFICIAL CHARTS COMPANY. http://www.theofficialcharts.com/chart-new...lbums-chart907/ ---- :lol: They never told us that 21 had indeed overtaken Madonna becming the best selling album by a female artist.. And usually they make headlines about everything irrelevant. Fantastic to see the updated list though Edited February 28, 201213 yr by SKOB
February 28, 201213 yr Good to see this list updated at last (wasn't the last update before MJ died, so in the first half of 2009?) Absolutely no doubt that Adele will get to #4 at the very least and I think she could get to #2. Queen's sales are inflated by including portions of boxsets as well, although I forget to what extent, so Adele could get very close to being the highest selling single album ever! But not being that ambitious, its next target is (obviously) Pink Floyd and it should take them down by early April at the latest? As ABBA's Gold - Greatest Hits remains an ever-present it should become the UK's third 5-million seller in just a couple of months. I read somewhere that '21' is now 58th in the SoundScan all-time list for the USA (by which I mean since 1991 of course, so not really all time at all, just all the time SoundScan have been precisely tracking sales :P) Poor Madonna being kicked out of the top 10, but then again maybe she would still be in there if Queen's GHII included only its actual sales and not a fraction of boxset sales as well? Edited February 28, 201213 yr by Bré
February 28, 201213 yr Author I think Adele won't overtake Abba, or if she did the latter will return ahead of her later.
February 28, 201213 yr What a travesty. I hope she doesn't overtake Thriller or Morning Glory. Looks possible though.
February 28, 201213 yr Author It had, until he died. The previous update was published before the death of MJ I believe. Edited February 28, 201213 yr by SKOB
February 28, 201213 yr Shame Madonna and warner decided to delete the Immaculate Collection once all current stock has sold.
February 28, 201213 yr Shame Madonna and warner decided to delete the Immaculate Collection once all current stock has sold. The Immaculate Collection I see in shops all the time. And really cheap... Unless it got taken out of the archives?
February 28, 201213 yr So, 'Gold' is just 11,000 short of 5 Million UK Sales, & just 55,000 less than 'Sgt Pepper'. The 2 Queen Albums have around 566,000 Sales added, (each), from 'The Platinum Collection'.
February 28, 201213 yr I could easily see 21 getting to #2 within a year or just over, and #1 is hardly out of the realms of possibility either :o
February 28, 201213 yr It feels quite weird seeing an album from 2011 up there with the best selling ever! :o I'm certainly not betting against it, but I actually can't see Adele breaking 5 million any time in the future and it will probably stabilise at around 4 or 5
February 28, 201213 yr With the release of 24, or whatever Adele calls her next album, i can certainly see 21 doing a mini 19 and selling pretty well then, another million on what it has now at the least
February 28, 201213 yr With the release of 24, or whatever Adele calls her next album, i can certainly see 21 doing a mini 19 and selling pretty well then, another million on what it has now at the least I really dont see this happening.
February 28, 201213 yr I'm happy for Adele, but Bad is imo the greatest pop album EVER made. I'm surprised it hasn't sold more than Thriller tbh, but still congrats Adele!
February 28, 201213 yr I really dont see this happening. So 21's sales won't increase at all when she releases a new album?
February 28, 201213 yr Is 21's massive success all the more bizarre given how the album has only spawned three hit singles? Most of the other albums here seem to be brimming with classics!
February 28, 201213 yr There is no way that 21 deserves to be on that list. I really dont understand what all the hype is about, its a very mediocre album and a good few reviews i have read say the same thing. If it overtakes an absolute classic such as Thriller then I will be appalled.
February 28, 201213 yr Author Is 21's massive success all the more bizarre given how the album has only spawned three hit singles? Most of the other albums here seem to be brimming with classics! DSOTM spawned only two singles, Thriller eight. I guess 21 is in the middle.
February 28, 201213 yr Is 21's massive success all the more bizarre given how the album has only spawned three hit singles? Most of the other albums here seem to be brimming with classics! Sgt. Pepper's doesn't have any singles does it? What makes it remarkable is that all of the other albums (bar perhaps 'Morning Glory') are all old enough to have had a significant amount of re-buyers, how many people in the last 20 years will have bought Dark Side of the Moon or Sgt Peppers on CD who owned it on vinyl when they were younger? However I guess that's cancelled out by how cheap and easily available it is compared to the rest up there.
February 28, 201213 yr Sgt. Pepper's doesn't have any singles does it? What makes it remarkable is that all of the other albums (bar 'Morning Glory') are all pretty old and will have had a significant amount of re-buyers, how many people will have bought Dark Side of the Moon or Sgt Peppers on CD who owned it on vinyl when they were younger? However I guess that's cancelled out by how cheap and easily available it is compared to the rest up there. Really? No singles at all? (forgive my ignorance, but I don't have a tracklisting!) Why'd people buy it then in their millions???
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