ADELE POSTS HISTORIC DEBUT WITH 30.
30 becomes Adele’s second No.1 album; 25, 21 & 19 also in Top Ten!
Adele’s long-awaited 30 – her first album in six years – naturally shoots straight to No.1 on L.dK Weekly. It arrives as Adele’s second chart-topping set – following 21 – and fourth consecutive Top Five – after 25 reached No.2 and 19 peaked at No.3.
With as much anticipation as this record had, it was bound for a hefty start, and was expected to claim the crown as the fastest-selling album of the year: it has gone above and beyond, and become the fastest-selling album of all time!
By The Numbers: 30 had sold a whopping 183,000 copies before it had even been released, thanks to pre-sales derived from single “Easy On Me”. Even if 30 hadn’t sold a single copy this week, it would have been the second fastest-selling album of 2021 on pre-sales alone!
On its first day, it sold 149,000 copies, bringing its total to 332,000 including pre-sales; instantly becoming the fastest-selling hit of the year and earning it the fourth biggest debut in history. It also made 30 the fastest-selling album since Lady Gaga’s Chromatica opened to sales of 473,000 units in June 2020.
By its second day, 30 had sold 385,000 units and surpassed Lorde’s Melodrama (345,000) to become the third fastest-selling album ever.
After selling 442,000 through its third day, it reached sales of 488,000 on its fourth; becoming the second fastest-selling album ever, behind only Lana Del Rey’s Lust for Life (639,000).
By its sixth day, 30 had sold 614,000 copies and been certified Double Platinum.
Sales for the week would reach a record-breaking total of 650,000 units on the final tracking day; breaking the previous record by 11,000 units. Lust for Life had stood as the fastest-selling album of all time since its debut in August 2017, and for years that record had seemed insurmountable.
In addition: 30 shifted 467,000 units in its first week (excluding pre-sales) marking the biggest pure sales debut of all time.
The updated list of fastest-selling albums is as follows:
- 30 – Adele – 650,000
- Lust for Life – Lana Del Rey – 639,000
- Chromatica – Lady Gaga – 473,000
- Melodrama – Lorde – 345,000
- Lover – Taylor Swift – 310,000
- reputation – Taylor Swift – 309,000
- Future Nostalgia – Dua Lipa – 289,000
- Blue Banisters – Lana Del Rey – 267,000
- folklore – Taylor Swift – 259,000
- Plastic Hearts – Miley Cyrus – 251,000
Accolades:
- Fastest-selling album of all time – 650,000 units
- 15th bestselling album of 2021
- 40th bestselling album of the decade
- 65th bestselling album of all time
30 has already landed as Adele’s second bestselling album, behind only 25!
- 25 – 1.85 million
- 30 – 650,000
- 21 – 594,000
- 19 – 378,000
Adele’s three other studio albums all rank inside this week’s Top Ten: 25 moves 3-4 with 42,000 units; 21 dips 4-5 with 36,000 sold; and 19 falls 5-7 with 25,000 sold.
Overall, Adele’s catalogue sold a mind-boggling 753,000 copies – making her the week’s top artist by a mile. To date, the singer has now sold a massive 3.47 million albums.
Lana Del Rey stays at No.2 this week with Blue Banisters, selling 73,000 copies this week (down twenty-six percent). The album previously spent its first three weeks at the top spot.
Taylor Swift’s Red (Taylor’s Version) slides to No.3 after debuting at No.1 last week; it sold 68,000 units in its sophomore frame (down thirty-eight percent).
Swift also takes out two more spots in the Top Ten: evermore keeps at No.6 (32,000 units – on par with last week) and folklore steps down 8-9 (22,000 units – down five percent).
The former – evermore – further solidifies itself as one of the largest hits in L.dK chart history this week, as it becomes the 4th bestselling album of all time! Having sold 2.94 million to date, it passes Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia (2.93 million).
The list of bestselling albums of all time is as follows:
- 4.62 million – Norman Fucking Rockwell! / Lana Del Rey
- 4.13 million – folklore / Taylor Swift
- 3.55 million – A Star is Born / Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
- 2.94 million – evermore / Taylor Swift
- 2.93 million – Future Nostalgia / Dua Lipa
- 2.80 million – Lust for Life / Lana Del Rey
- 2.51 million – Diva / Annie Lennox
- 2.36 million – The Collection / Alanis Morissette
- 2.10 million – Sweetener / Ariana Grande
- 2.08 million – Crystal Visions – the Very Best of Stevie Nicks / Stevie Nicks
Rounding out the Top Ten: Joni Mitchell’s Blue slips 7-8 (24,000 units – down four percent) and Tori Amos’s Ocean to Ocean moves 9-10 (21,000 copies – down nine percent).
Onto Next Week: Adele’s 30 is currently on track to sell another 150,000 copies in its second week on sale, which would easily earn the record a second term on top. Katie Melua’s Album No. 8 might also make large gains after the release of the acoustic version.
Notable Moves in the Top 50
No.11 – Norman Fucking Rockwell! / Lana Del Rey’s mangum-opus ranks at No.11 this week as it notches a 117th appearance on L.dK Weekly. It surpasses Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours (116 weeks) to become the seventh longest-charting album of all time.
No.16 – Greatest Hits / Just a week after celebrating a full two years on the chart, Fleetwood Mac’s compilation album has now become the twenty-fifth album in history to be certified 5 x Platinum, denoting sales of 1.5 million units! It is the second release from the band to achieve this, following the 6 x Platinum smash Rumours.
L.dK Weekly 50
L.dK Top Artists
Industry Sales
Thanks to Adele’s record-breaking debut, the music industry as a whole reaches historic highs! Totals for the week stand at a whopping 1,435,000 units, surging 48.2% from the previous week. Compared to the same week last year (when 790,000 albums were sold), consumption is up by 81.6%!
1.435 million marks the largest weekly consumption figure of the year, surpassing the week dated 08 June 2020 when 1.182 million albums were sold; it tops that figure by a hefty 21.4%!
Note
Certifications: Silver (60,000); Gold (100,000); Platinum (300,000); Multi-Platinum (600,000 etc.); Diamond (3,000,000).
L.dK Music 