ADELE’S 30 CROSSES 2 MILLION SALES IN RECORD TIME!

Plus: Birdy’s Young Heart reaches a new sales milestone.

Adele’s 30 tallies an eleventh consecutive week at number-one on the L.dK Weekly Top Fifty, tying it with Lana Del Rey’s Lust for Life as the sixth-longest-running chart-topper in history!

1. Twenty-five weeks – Norman Fucking Rockwell! / Lana Del Rey
2. Twenty-one weeks – Blue / Joni Mitchell
3. Seventeen weeks – folklore / Taylor Swift
4. Thirteen weeks – evermore / Taylor Swift
5. Twelve weeks – A Star is Born – OST / Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
6. Eleven weeks – Lust for Life & 30

30 sold 94,000 units this week (down 13 percent), bringing its total sales figure to an incredible 2.08 million after just twelve weeks on sale! Adele’s latest juggernaut becomes the fastest album in history to sell over 2 million copies, surpassing Taylor Swift’s folklore which needed twenty weeks to sell as many units!

To date, 30 is the 6th bestselling album of the decade, topping Lady Gaga’s Chromatica (2.02 million).

It has also become Adele’s bestselling album to date, and the singer becomes the sixth artist to have two albums sell more than 2 million copies!

• Lana Del Rey: Norman Fucking Rockwell! (4.85 million) & Lust for Life (2.87 million)
• Taylor Swift: folklore (4.34 million) & evermore (3.35 million)
• Lady Gaga: *A Star is Born – OST (3.62 million) & Chromatica (2.02 million)
• Annie Lennox: Diva (2.61 million) & Medusa (2.01 million)
• Stevie Nicks: Crystal Visions – the Very Best of Stevie Nicks (2.23 million) & Bella Donna (2.01 million)
• Adele: 30 (2.08 million) & 25 (2.03 million)

It adds to 30‘s impressive list of accolades, after the album became the fastest-selling record of all time upon its release (650,000 sold) and then soared to 1 million sales in just three weeks!

Currently, it is the 11th bestselling LP ever, just behind Ariana Grande’s Sweetener (2.17 million) and ahead of Adele’s own 25.

Taylor Swift keeps at No.2 with evermore on sales of 43,000 copies (down 3 percent); and backtracks 9-10 with folklore, which sells 22,000 units (down 5 percent).

Norah Jones stays at No.3 with her No.2-peaking Come Away With Me, moving 40,000 copies (down 7 percent).

Birdy‘s Young Heart elevates 5-4 as it moves a further 32,000 units (down 9 percent). The folk album has now sold more than 900,000 copies and been certified Triple Platinum!

Arlo Parks rounds out the Top Five as Collapsed in Sunbeams ascends 7-5, selling 28,000 units (even with last week).

Outside the Top Five: AURORA‘s The Gods We Can Touch slides 3-6 in its third week after debuting and peaking at No.2 (26,000 units – down 40 percent).

Lana Del Rey‘s former chart-topping Blue Banisters improves 8-7 as it celebrates a 16th week in the Top Ten (25,000 units – up 4 percent); she also drops 6-9 with Born to Die: the Paradise Edition (23,000 units – down 26 percent).

Onto Next Week: Adele’s 30 should sell over 80,000 units, easily earning it a twelfth week at number-one!

L.dK Weekly Top Fifty

Notable Moves inside the Top Fifty

No.11 – Rumours / Fleetwood Mac’s magnum-opus re-enters at No.11 with sales of 21,000 units following the iconic album’s 45th anniversary! The album has sold just over 2 million copies to date, and has now charted for 117 weeks, making it the band’s longest-charting album.

No.21 – Ladies of the Canyon / Joni Mitchell’s third studio album has now been certified Silver denoting sales of over 60,000 copies.

No.27 – Both Sides Now / Joni Mitchell’s 2000 studio album has now sold 66,000 units, being certified Silver.

No.36 – Twelve Deadly Cyns … / Cyndi Lauper’s 1993 compilation album has now been certified Silver, becoming Lauper’s third consecutive release to achieve this following She’s so Unusual (6 x Platinum) and True Colors (Platinum).

L.dK Weekly Top Artists

Industry Sales

Industry sales for the week stand at 755,000 units, falling by 20.7% from the previous week’s figure of 952,000 units. Compared to the same week last year (when 796,000 albums were sold), consumption is down by 5.2%!

Note

Certifications: Silver (60,000); Gold (100,000); Platinum (300,000); Multi-Platinum (600,000 etc.); Diamond (3,000,000).

ADELE’S 30 TALLIES RARE TENTH TERM ATOP L.DK WEEKLY!

Plus: Lana Del Rey’s Born to Die and Birdy’s Young Heart return to Top Ten!

Adele‘s 30 enters rarified territory this week, as it logs a tenth non-consecutive week at No.1, a feat only achieved by six other albums.

1. Twenty-five weeks – Norman Fucking Rockwell! / Lana Del Rey
2. Twenty-one weeks – Blue / Joni Mitchell
3. Seventeen weeks – folklore / Taylor Swift
4. Thirteen weeks – evermore / Taylor Swift
5. Twelve weeks – A Star is Born – OST / Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
6. Eleven weeks – Lust for Life / Lana Del Rey
7. Ten weeks – 30

30 – which became the fastest-selling album of all time upon its release last November – sold 108,000 units this week (up nine percent), bringing its total sales figure to a whopping 1.99 million! It passes Carole King’s A Beautiful Collection (1.93 million) as it becomes the 7th bestselling album of the 2020’s decade. It should pass Lady Gaga’s Chromatica (2.02 million) within the week!

In addition: 1.99 million makes 30 the 17th bestselling album of all time, as it tops Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours (1.98 million).

Taylor Swift ascends 3-2 with evermore as the album sells 44,000 units (up twenty-two percent). The folk album previously spent thirteen weeks at the summit, and this week becomes only the fourth album in history to be certified 11 x Platinum for selling more than 3.3 million copies!

1. 16 x Platinum – Norman Fucking Rockwell! / Lana Del Rey
2. 14 x Platinum – folklore / Taylor Swift
3. 12 x Platinum – A Star is Born – OST / Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
4. 11 x Platinum – evermore

Swift is also up 10-9 with seventeen-week-leader folklore, on sales of 23,000 units (up fifteen percent) in its 80th charting week.

AURORA‘s The Gods We Can Touch descends 2-3 in its sophomore week, declining by thirty-two percent to shift 44,000 in its second frame. The album has sold 107,000 to date, becoming the Norwegian songstress’s third project to be certified at least Gold, following A Different Kind of Human (2 x Platinum) and Infections of a Different Kind (Platinum). Her 2015 debut, All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend was recently certified Silver.

Norah Jones is steady at No.4 with the No.2-peaking Come Away with Me, swelling by twenty-three percent to 42,000 sold.

Birdy returns to the top tier this week as Young Heart flies 13-5 with 35,000 copies sold, marking 133 percent surge from the previous week. The folk LP previously spent two weeks at number-one in April 2021.

Lana Del Rey‘s 2012-debut Born to Die: the Paradise Edition also re-enters the Top Ten, soaring 15-6, selling 31,000 copies (up 121 percent) following its ten-year anniversary! The Multi-Platinum smash peaked at No.2 in 2017 and has now spent a whopping 92 weeks inside the Top Fifty – it is Del Rey’s third most successful album, behind Lust for Life and NFR!

Del Rey also steps 9-8 with last year’s chart-topping Blue Banisters (24,000 units – up twenty percent).

Rounding out the Top Ten this week: Arlo Parks falls 5-7 with Collapsed in Sunbeams (28,000 units – on par with last week) after reaching a highpoint of No.3; and The Weeknd‘s Dawn FM slides 6-10 (23,000 units – down eight percent) three weeks after debuting atop the tally.

Onto Next Week: Adele’s 30 is currently aiming for an eleventh cumulative week at the pinnacle with over 90,000 sold.

L.dK Weekly Top Fifty

Notable Moves in the Top Fifty!

No.16 – Crystal Visions – the Very Best of … / Stevie Nicks’s 2007 compilation album is her bestselling release, and is among the most successful collections of all time. It notches a 100th week inside the Top Fifty as it springs 22-16 on sales of 14,000 units. Crystal is Nicks’s fourth effort to achieve this feat, following Bella Donna (177 weeks); Rock a Little (124 weeks); and The Wild Heart (100 weeks).

No.17 – Under the Pink / Tori Amos’s sophomore album – originally released in 1994 – blasts 37-17, selling 14,000 units to become the week’s Greatest Gainer! The album has sold over 200,000 copies since its retrospective release last February, and this week logs a 21st appearance on the charts.

No.19 – How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful / Florence + the Machine’s biggest hit adds another accolade this week, as it becomes the band’s first release to be certified Triple Platinum for selling over 900,000 copies!

No.31 – Bella Donna / Stevie Nicks’s 1981 solo debut album is one of the biggest hits in L.dK Weekly history, and ranks as the longest-charting of all time (176 weeks)! This week, as it slips 28-31 (10,000 sold) it becomes the 16th album in history to sell over 2 million copies, just a week after Annie Lennox’s Medusa became the 15th. Nicks’s Crystal has also reached the sales mark, having sold 2.22 million to date.

No.44 – Medusa / Speaking of Lennox’s sophomore record… as it descends 41-44 (7,000 units) it snares a 100th appearance on L.dK Weekly! Lennox’s solo debut – Diva – has racked up a whopping 157 weeks to date.

No.45 – Birdy / The self-titled debut from the British star has now become her fourth release to be certified Platinum as it re-enters at No.45, notching a 25th week on the rundown. It joins Young Heart & Beautiful Lies (2 x Platinum); and Piano Sketches (Platinum).

L.dK Weekly Top Artists

Industry Sales

Industry sales for the week stand at 952,000 units, swelling by 26.0% from the previous week’s figure of 755,000 units. Compared to the same week last year (when 704,000 albums were sold), consumption is up by 35.2%!

Note

Certifications: Silver (60,000); Gold (100,000); Platinum (300,000); Multi-Platinum (600,000 etc.); Diamond (3,000,000).

YEAR-END ALBUMS

2021

Birdy’s Young Heart debuted at No.1 on the Top Contemporary Albums Chart dated 10 May 2021, selling 93,000 units in its first week. The folky set would stay at No.1 in its second week, selling a further 74,000 copies; it was certified Gold in just two weeks, and was certified Platinum in its fifth week as it ranked at No.3, moving 46,000 units. In September, Heart earned a Double Platinum certification in its 20th charting week.

To date, Young Heart is Birdy’s most successful album on L.dK Weekly, having moved just under 800,000 units; it has also spent 19 weeks inside the Top Ten! As of the final week of 2021, Heart sits at No.23 on the Weekly Top Fifty – it has never left the Top Fifty during its 34-week tenure. It is also the singer’s first album to make the Top Ten on the Year-End Albums Chart; Beautiful Lies was responsible for her prior best showing, landing at No.25 for 2017.

Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia was the second-biggest hit of 2020, leading the chart for eight consecutive weeks in Spring-Summer. It sold 2.14 million that year, beaten only by Taylor Swift’s folklore (2.21 million).

This year, Future logged a further six months inside the Top Ten – reaching a peak of No.3 in April following the release of its Moonlight edition – and sold 867,000 copies to become the 10th bestselling LP of the year. It is one of multiple albums to have been present on the chart for the entire of 2021. In the final week of 2021, Lipa’s pop-masterpiece became the fifth album in history to be certified Diamond for selling 3 million copies – it achieved this in its 91st charting week!

Kate Bush’s The Whole Story sold 754,000 copies this week, landing at No.14 on the Year-End sales list, but thanks to its impressive chart longevity, it beats out some of its higher-selling counterparts for a Top Ten spot!

Story maintained a chart presence for the entire year, clocking up a whopping thirty-nine weeks inside the Top Ten, including seven weeks at its No.3 peak! The best-of set originally peaked at No.4 in 2017, and has seen a resurgance in sales which kicked off in 2020; Story ranked at No.10 on last year’s list.

The highest-performing compilation album of 2021: Stevie Nicks’s Crystal Visions – the Very Best of Stevie Nicks. Another stalwart of the charts, Crystal re-entered the Top Twenty in January and soon reclaimed the No.1 spot which it would hold for a total of four consecutive weeks over the course of the year. The collection stayed inside the Top Ten for thirty-eight successive weeks, and has remained on the chart for the entire year.

Crystal was the No.3 biggest album of 2018, while it finished at No.21 in 2019; this year signals its return as the most successful compilation album of all time.

After debuting with 251,000 sales in December 2020 and scoring two straight weeks at No.1, Plastic Hearts was already a certified hit with sales of just over half-a-million by the New Year. It sustained its success well into the following year, spending a total of twenty-four weeks in the Top Ten, and never dipping below No.13.

Plastic finished at No.50 in 2020 despite its late-November release.

Lana Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell! makes history as it takes a Top Ten spot for a third successive year! Multiple albums have finished inside the Top Ten for two years; Lady Gaga Bradley Cooper’s A Star is Born – OST even topped both the 2018 and 2019 tallies, but fell to No.29 in 2020, and is down to No.64 this year.

NFR! landed at No.3 in 2019 and came out on top in 2020, selling 1.88 million and 1.67 million respectively. It sold 1.14 million this year – ranking No.7 for sales – and also becomes the first release to sell a million units in three seperate years.

NFR! ruled the charts for eight non-consecutive weeks this year, upping its total tenure at No.1 to a record-padding twenty-five weeks. It spent the whole year in the Top Ten, barring the single week where it placed at No.11.

Lana Del Rey’s Chemtrails Over the Country Club debuted at No.1 in March with the biggest sales week of the year at the time (160,000 units) and by its third week had been certified Platinum. The album has since sold 1.63 million copies to rank as the 3rd bestselling hit of both 2021 and Del Rey’s career.

Chemtrails – the most successful album released in 2021 – lived in the Top Ten for its first thirty-one weeks, and ranks at No.21 in its 40th charting week. It is the third album from Del Rey to achieve a Top Five position on a Year-End Albums Chart, following Lust for Life (No.3 – 2017) and NFR!.

Joni Mitchell’s Blue – an iconic female album, released originally in 1971 – debuted at No.1 in March, scoring opening week sales of 75,000 copies. It stayed at No.1 for a record-breaking twenty consecutive weeks, ruling until mid-July. The album achieved its greatest sales week in its eighth term at the top, moving 76,000 units. During its twenty-week stay at the summit, Blue accumulated sales of over 960,000 copies. By August, Blue had sold over a million copies, becoming Mitchell’s first record to do so.

For the week dated 04 October, Blue returned to the No.1 spot, selling 23,000 copies.

Blue has remained in the Top Ten for its entire forty-three-week chart run, and this year sold a massive 1.49 million units, making it the year’s 4th bestselling album.

folklore was the bestselling album of 2020 and broke the record for most sales of an album in a single year – 2.21 million sold. It’s success has continued well into 2021, with the album nabbing a Top Ten position every week until the char dated 13 December when it fell to No.12; it even returned to the No.1 spot twice; first on the chart dated 22 March, selling 73,000 units; and then on the chart dated 02 August, shifting 41,000 copies on the date of its anniversary.

With 2.00 million sales this year, folklore earns the fourth biggest yearly sales figure in history; its also the first album to rake in over 2 million sales in two seperate years. The juggernaut ranks as the year’s 2nd bestselling LP, and achieves a new best rank after finishing 2020 at No.4 among all albums.

Taylor Swift’s evermore was far-and-away the most successful album of 2021, despite being released in December 2020! The album commanded the charts for the first eleven weeks of the year, selling 1.30 million in this time. It would stay inside the Top Ten for the rest of the year, and in December would achieve Diamond status for selling 3 million copies.

During 2020, evermore sold 2.70 million units – beating its closest rival by a margin of over 700,000. It records the greatest yearly sales figure in history, surpassing Swift’s own folklore which sold 2.21 million in 2020.

GREATEST SALES YEARS

1. 2021 – evermore / Taylor Swift – 2.70 million
2. 2020 – folklore / Taylor Swift – 2.21 million
3. 2020 – Future Nostalgia / Dua Lipa – 2.14 million
4. 2021 – folklore / Taylor Swift – 2.00 million
5. 2020 – The Collection / Alanis Morissette – 1.90 million

BESTSELLING ALBUMS EACH YEAR

• 2017 – Lust for Life / Lana Del Rey – 1.86 million
• 2018 – A Star is Born / Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper – 1.57 million
• 2019 – Norman Fucking Rockwell! / Lana Del Rey – 1.88 million
• 2020 – folklore / Taylor Swift – 2.21 million
• 2021 – evermore / Taylor Swift – 2.70 million

Notably, this marks the first time in L.dK Chart history that an artist has claimed the top two biggest hits in any given year. Multiple artists have nabbed more than one space in the Top Ten, but have never monopolized the top two.

Bestselling Albums of 2021

1. evermore / Taylor Swift – 2.70 million
2. folklore / Taylor Swift – 2.00 million
3. Chemtrails Over the Country Club / Lana Del Rey – 1.63 million
4. Blue / Joni Mitchell – 1.49 million
5. 30 / Adele – 1.31 million
6. Plastic Hearts / Miley Cyrus – 1.25 million
7. Norman Fucking Rockwell! / Lana Del Rey – 1.14 million
8. If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power / Halsey – 927,000
9. Blue Banisters / Lana Del Rey – 911,000
10. Future Nostalgia / Dua Lipa – 867,000

Adele’s 30 and Halsey’s If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power narrowly miss out on Top Ten positions, coming it at No.12 and No.16 respectively.

Bestselling Albums of the Decade (So Far)

1. folklore / Taylor Swift – 4.21 million
2. evermore / Taylor Swift – 3.09 million
3. Future Nostalgia / Dua Lipa – 3.01 million
4. Norman Fucking Rockwell! / Lana Del Rey – 2.82 million
5. The Collection / Alanis Morissette – 2.39 million
6. Chromatica / Lady Gaga – 2.01 million
7. A Beautiful Collection / Carole King – 1.89 million
8. Plastic Hearts / Miley Cyrus – 1.75 million
9. Chemtrails Over the Country Club / Lana Del Rey – 1.63 million
10. Blue / Joni Mitchell – 1.49 million

YEAR-END ALBUMS

INDUSTRY SALES

2021 – The Biggest Year in Music History!

Since the beginning of 2021, a record-breaking 41.65 million albums have been sold, making it the biggest year since L.dK Weekly launched in 2017, and marks a fourth consecutive year of growth. The previous biggest year in music was 2020, when 40.25 million albums were consumed.

In addition, eight months of 2021 were the biggest on record in terms of albums sold, with November experiencing an all-time sales high of 4.71 million units!

Helping to swell this year’s record figures: the seven top-selling albums of the year each moved over a million units. In 2017, the first year of L.dK Weekly, three albums topped a million, while two did so in 2018. 2019 saw six LP’s cross the mark, while 2020 holds the record with seven million-selling albums.

2021 – Monthly Sales

• January – 3.03 million
• February – 2.94 million
• March – 4.13 million
• April – 3.36 million
• May – 4.11 million
• June – 3.29 million
• July – 2.65 million
• August – 3.64 million
• September – 3.18 million
• October – 2.61 million
• November – 4.71 million
• December – 3.95 million

Biggest Months on Record

• January 2021 – 3.03 million
• February 2021 – 2.94 million
• March 2021 – 4.13 million
• April 2020 – 3.93 million
• May 2021 – 4.11 million
• June 2020 – 4.65 million
• July 2020 – 3.82 million
• August 2020 – 4.05 million
• September 2021 – 3.18 million
• October 2021 – 2.61 million
• November – 4.71 million
• December – 3.95 million

Music Industry Year by Year

• 2017 – 20.63 million (adj.)
• 2018 – 21.22 million (adj.) [+2.8%]
• 2019 – 26.14 million [+23.1%]
• 2020 – 40.25 million [+53.9%]
• 2021 – 41.65 million [+3.4%]

Notably, this year’s music totals are just over double the adjusted figure for 2017, the first year of L.dK Weekly. 2021 needed just twenty-six weeks to surpasses 2017’s haul of 20.6 million; the following week it topped 2018’s draw of 21.22 million. In its thirty-fourth week, 2021 surpassed the entire year of 2019 (26.14 million), and in its fifty-first week it topped 2020’s total!

To date, L.dK Weekly has recorded total industry sales of 135.77 million units, dating to the chart’s inception in 2017.

ADELE COLLECTS NINTH WEEK AT NO.1 WITH 30.

As Adele holds at No.1, AURORA debuts at No.2 & Lana Del Rey achieves a new milestone!

Adele’s 30 extends its command over the Weekly Top Fifty as it moves a further 99,000 units (down two percent) to snare a ninth frame out in front.

The album debuted at No.1 on the chart dated 29 November 2021 – selling 650,000 to become the fastest-selling album of all time – and stayed at the top for its first seven weeks, selling 1.55 million copies in that time. It dipped to No.2 in its eighth week, giving way to The Weeknd’s newly released Dawn FM, but would return to No.1 last week.

To date, 30 has sold 1.88 million copies, becoming just the 21st album in history to be certified 6 x Platinum, denoting sales exceeding 1.8 million. It also becomes the 19th bestselling album of all time after just ten weeks on sale, passing Miley Cyrus’s Plastic Hearts (1.83 million).

In addition, 30 now ranks as the 9th bestselling album of the decade, despite only having been on sale for ten weeks! It passes Cyrus’s Plastic and now sets its sights on Carole King’s A Beautiful Collection which has shifted 1.92 million since its release in the Summer of 2020; Adele’s blockbuster is set to top that figure within the week.

Now with nine weeks at the top spot, 30 ties as the 7th longest-running number one of all time, matched with Lana Del Rey’s Chemtrails Over the Country Club.

1. Twenty-five weeks – Norman Fucking Rockwell! / Lana Del Rey
2. Twenty-one weeks – Blue / Joni Mitchell
3. Seventeen weeks – folklore / Taylor Swift
4. Thirteen weeks – evermore / Taylor Swift
5. Twelve weeks – A Star is Born – OST / Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
6. Eleven weeks – Lust for Life / Lana Del Rey
7. Nine weeks – Chemtrails Over the Country Club , 30

AURORA scores her highest debut to date on L.dK Weekly as The Gods We Can Touch premieres at No.2 with first-week sales of 64,000 copies. It passes the No.5 debut of A Different Kind of Human – Step 2 – an album that would also later peak at No.2.

Gods is the third Top Ten hit from the Norwegian singer, following Human and Infections of a Different Kind – Step 1 (No.6). She also charted with her 2015 debut All My Demons Greeting Me as a Friend, which originally topped out at No.15.

All three of AURORA’s previous releases re-enter in the Top Twenty, lead by Demons at a new peak of No.11 (16,000 units); Human follwows at No.16 (13,000); and Infections completes the set at No.18 (12,000).

Taylor Swift‘s evermore repeats at No.3 after previously spending thirteen weeks at No.1. The wintery-folk set sold 36,000 this week, up two percent from the previous week. Swift’s folklore – which led for seventeen weeks – meanwhile steps down 9-10 with 20,000 sold (up five percent).

Norah Jones falls from her No.2 high to No.4 with Come Away With Me. The soft-rock set sold 34,000 this week – marking a dip of three percent from the week before. Arlo Parks meanwhile caps the Top Five as her No.3-peaking Collapsed in Sunbeams falls 4-5, selling 28,000 copies (down ten percent).

Outside the Top Five: The Weeknd‘s Dawn FM dips 5-6 (25,000 units – down seventeen percent) in its third week; Joni Mitchell‘s Blue moves back up 8-7 (22,000 units – up fifteen percent).

Lana Del Rey follows at No.8 with Norman Fucking Rockwell! (down from No.7) on sales of 21,000 units (up five percent). The album has sold 4.81 million copies to date; it is the first album in history to be certified 16 x Platinum for surpassing sales of 4.8 million units! It has also spent a record-extending 118th week inside the Top Ten.

Finally, Del Rey’s Blue Banisters slides 6-9 (20,000 units – down fourteen percent) in its fourteenth charting week.

Onto Next Week: Adele’s 30 should earn upwards of 80,000 units, and looks set to easily nab a tenth week at the summit!

L.dK Weekly Top Fifty

Notable Moves in the Weekly Top Fifty

No.12 – Clouds / Joni Mitchell’s 1969 sophomore album slips 11-12 after previously peaking at No.3 in the first week of Jauary; it sold 16,000 units this week. The folk set is now certified Gold for selling over 100,000 copies, becoming Mitchell’s second album to achieve this, following Blue (5 x Platinum).

No.23 – Bloom / Troye Sivan’s sophomore full-length set zooms 39-23, registering the largest jump on this week’s chart, selling 11,000 copies. The album has sold just over 700,000 to date and spent 64 weeks inside the Weekly Top Fifty.

No.29 – Diva / Annie Lennox’s debut solo album steps down 28-29 on this week’s rundown, moving 9,000 copies. The former chart-topping LP has now spent a whopping 156 weeks (or three whole years) inside the Top Fifty! It is only the second album in history to achieve this, after Stevie Nicks’s Bella Donna which has charted for 176 weeks.

No.33 – Honeymoon / Lana Del Rey’s third full-length album dives 17-33 on sales of 8,000 copies. The album has now been certified 2 x Platinum, denoting sales of over 600,000 units.

No.41 – Medusa / Annie Lennox’s sophomore album moves 40-41 as it sells 6,000 this week. The hit – which previously spent three weeks in pole position – has now surpassed sales of 2 million copies. It is the 14th album in history to achieve this.

L.dK Weekly Top Artists

Industry Sales

Industry sales for the week stand at 755,000 units, dipping by 3.4% from the previous week’s figure of 781,000 units. Compared to the same week last year (when 671,000 albums were sold), consumption is up by 16.3%!

Note

Certifications: Silver (60,000); Gold (100,000); Platinum (300,000); Multi-Platinum (600,000 etc.); Diamond (3,000,000).

YEAR-END ARTISTS

2021

After taking the No.3 spot in both 2018 and 2020 – while ranking at No.27 in 2017 and No.5 in 2019 – Ariana Grande logs a fourth appearance in the Year-End Artists Top Ten. She wins her place thanks to the enduring success of her catalogue efforts. While none of Grande’s albums rank inside the Top Twenty on the Year-End Albums Chart, her sales total just over 1.02 million, making her the 11th bestselling artist of the year.

Positions – her best performing album, at No.24 – improves on its 2020 rank where it placed at No.34 following its October release. However, this means Positions will likely become Grande’s first major release since the inception of L.dK Weekly not attain a Top Ten position… last year’s live album k bye for now would climb as high as No.17.

Sweetener & thank u, next both continue to experience success long after their respective releases. The former is on its fourth appearance on a Year-End Chart; No.2 (2018); No.16 (2019); No.23 (2020); and now No.44 (2021). next meanwhile logs its third appearance; No.9 (2019); No.42 (2020) and now No.67 (2021).

Supported entirely by the huge success of 2020’s Plastic Hearts, Miley Cyrus pays her first visit to the Top Ten of the Year-End Artists Chart. With 1.25 million sales from Plastic, Cyrus is 2021’s 8th bestselling artist.

Plastic – her sole album present on the Year-End Albums Chart – ranks at No.6 after making the cut at No.50 last year from just four weeks of activity!

Paramore’s front-woman began her solo career in 2020 with Petals for Armor – that album peaked at No.3 and would eventually become the 15th biggest album of the year. This year, she followed that with another hefty success: February’s FLOWERS for VASES / descansos. It debuted at No.2 – a new high for Williams – and has since sold over 700,000 copies (Petals is on over 1.4 million to date).

In 2021, 1.29 million copies of Williams’s solo work were sold, the 7th highest total among all artists. Her two solo albums both finish inside the Top Twenty-Five spots on this year’s albums ranking, with Petals two spots ahead at No.21. FLOWERS finishes at No.23, despite selling over 120,000 copies more than its predecessor.

No.9 is the best rank to date for Williams, who finished 2020 at No.18 thanks to the success of Petals for Armor.

British singer Birdy is the youngest artist (at twenty-five) to rank inside the Top Ten. Like Cyrus and Williams, Birdy is a newcomer to the region, having previously peaked at No.17 in 2017, and then raking at No.21 in 2018. Spearheaded by Young Heart – released in April – the singer places three projects on the Year-End Albums Chart.

As previously mentioned, Young leads the pack at No.10. Although it did not make the Top Ten for sales, it still sold an impressive 793,000 units. The four-track EP Piano Sketches was released in November 2020 and climbed the lists slowly over the course 2021, achieving its peak position of No.10 in its twenty-eighth charting week. It sold 309,000 over the year and lands at No.42. Birdy’s 2016 LP Beautiful Lies comes in at No.85 after selling 89,000 units. Beautiful was the 25th biggest hit of 2017.

With total sales of 1.24 million, Birdy is the 9th bestselling star of 2021.

Joni Mitchell’s first year on L.dK Weekly has been a big one. Her 1971 masterpiece is at No.3 on the Year-End Albums Chart, and with sales of 1.59 million, the Canadian singer-songwriter is the 5th bestselling artist of 2021.

Besides the enormous success of Blue, Mitchell also appears at No.96 on the Year-End Albums Chart with her 1967 debut album Song to a Seagull.

Aided by the enduring success of her 1986 compilation album The Whole Story, British prog-rock icon Kate Bush ranks at No.5 on the Year-End Artists Chart; her best-of collection snares the No.8 rank on the Year-End Albums Chart, achieving its best rank to date, and is Bush’s best showing since The Red Shoes landed at No.7 for 2019.

Bush also drew healthy sales – around 550,000 – from her catalogue of studio albums, the bestselling of which is 1989’s The Sensual World, which takes the No.62 position on the Year-End Albums Chart. 1993’s The Red Shoes – the singer’s bestselling studio record – is up next at No.72, followed closely by her wintery 50 Words for Snow at No.76. Her critically acclaimed Hounds of Love takes the No.86 spot for the year.

Having sold a total of 1.30 million albums in 2021, Bush is the sixth bestselling act of the year. No.5 is also Bush’s best showing since 2019 when she hit No.2!

2021 initially seemed as if it would be another dormant year for Adele, other than the ten-year anniversary of 21 (which saw the album re-enter the Top Ten); until 30, the singer had yet to release an album since the inception of L.dK Weekly. Despite this career haitus, Adele’s 25 (released in late 2015) was one of the bestselling albums of all time, and had ranked among the Top 20 Artists of the Year consistently since 2017 when she reached a high of No.5.

In October, Adele made her comeback with single “Easy on Me”. Her three studio albums – 19, 21 & 25 – nabbed the top three spots on L.dK Weekly and 21 soared to No.1 for the first time. In November, Adele released 30, her first album in six years; it sold 650,000 copies in seven days and became the fastest-selling album of all time; it sold a million in just three weeks (another record) and as of New Year’s has sold 1.31 million, while logging five straight weeks at No.1.

30 ranks as the 12th biggest album of the year, while her three previous studio albums all find a home inside the Top 50. She is the only artist, other than Lana Del Rey to have her entire discography rank within the upper half of the Top 100.

Overall, Adele sold 2.26 million albums this year, becoming the 4th bestselling artist of the year, with almost a million of those sales coming from her catalogue albums!

No.4 also marks the best showing for Adele on a Year-End Chart; she previously reached a high of No.5 in 2017.

Stevie Nicks scores her fifth straight appearance in the Top Five among Year-End Artists, following a four-year stint at the No.1 spot. Her extensive catalogue drew hefty sales of 2.45 million units this year, marking Nicks’s third biggest year to date, following 2019 (3.11 million) and 2017 (2.85 million).

Nicks picks up nine spots on the Year-End Albums Chart, ranging from Crystal Visions – the Very Best of Stevie Nicks at No.7 to Trouble in Shangri-La at No.94. With Crystal at No.7, 2021 is the fourth year in which Nicks has scored one of the ten biggest hits of the annum.

• 2017: No.4 (Bella Donna); No.7 (The Other Side of the Mirrror); No.8 (The Wild Heart); and No.10 (The Other Side of the Mirror)
• 2018: No.3 (Crystal Visions – the Very Best of Stevie Nicks); and No.4 (Street Angel)
• 2020: No.7 (Timespace: the Best of Stevie Nicks)
• 2021: No.7 (Crystal Visions – the Very Best of Stevie Nicks)

Nicks’s first four solo studio albums – Bella Donna, The Wild Heart, Rock a Little & The Other Side of the Mirror – all rank inside this year’s Top 100, nabbing rare fifth appearances on Year-End Charts!

Bella Donna ranks the highest, at No.17, achieving its highest rank since 2017 when it sat at No.4; Rock a Little follows at No.31, improving from last year’s No.57; The Wild Heart is at No.60, dipping slightly from 2020 where it finished at No.57; finally, The Other Side of the Mirror takes the No.71 spot after finishing at No.84 in 2020.

Street Angel logs a third year on the ranking as it slots at No.80; Timespace: the Best of Stevie Nicks is at No.82 in its fourth showing; Live in Concert: 24 Karat Gold Tour lands at No.92, down from its No.65 debut last year; finally, Trouble in Shangri-La records its fourth appearance, taking the No.94 spot.

• Bella Donna: No.4 (2017); No.20 (2018); No.24 (2019); No.27 (2020); No.17 (2021)
• The Wild Heart: No.8 (2017); No.23 (2018); No.28 (2019); No.57 (2020); No.60 (2021)
• Rock a Little: No.10 (2017); No.38 (2018); No.31 (2019); No.49 (2020); No.31 (2021)
• The Other …: No.7 (2017); No.31 (2018); No.38 (2019); No.84 (2020); No.71 (2021)
• Timespace: No.65 (2018); No.63 (2019); No.7 (2020); No.82
• Street Angel: No.4 (2018); No.43 (2019); No.80 (2021)
• Trouble in …: No.15 (2017); No.32 (2018); No.62 (2019); No.94 (2021)
• Crystal Visions …: No.3 (2018); No.21 (2019); No.7 (2021)
• Soundstage Sessions: No.68 (2018)
• In Your Dreams: No.19 (2018); No.70 (2019)
• 24 Karat Gold …: No.11 (2019)
• Stand Back…: No.15 (2019)
• Live in Concert…: No.65 (2020); No.92 (2021)

Taylor Swift was actually the bestselling artist of the year, nabbing the record for the greatest sales figure in a single year by selling an incredible 6.05 million albums since January. Swift claimed the same title last year when she sold 3.17 million units in 2020.

4.70 million of those sales stem from evermore and folklore, the two biggest hits of both 2021 and Swift’s career. Her two albums released in 2021, Fearless (Taylor’s Version) and Red (Taylor’s Version) sold a combined 1.19 million units. Just over 150,000 sales are derived from her earlier catalogue.

No.2 marks Swift’s highest rank to date on the Year-End Chart Artists; she previously ranked at No.8 in 2017, and then reached a new high in 2020 when she hit No.4.

Overall, Swift sold a record-breaking 6.05 million albums in 2021, and spent a total of sixteen weeks at No.1 – evermore was the second-longest-running number-one album of the year, spending eleven weeks at the top spot!

Lana Del Rey was the second bestselling artist of 2021, with monstrous sales of 5.34 million copies – 2.80 million stemming from her catalogue and the remaining 2.54 million derived from her 2021 releases. 5.34 million is the second-greatest sales figure in history achieved in a single year!

It seems that Del Rey has long been waiting to claim the title as Top Artist on a Year-End Chart, after previously finishing inside the Top Ten for the past consecutive years, ranking at No.3 in 2017, No.7 in 2018, No.4 in 2019, and reaching a then-highpoint of No.2 in 2020. She is currently the only artist to reach No.1 on both the Year-End Artist & Albums Chart, nabbing the biggest hit of 2020 with Norman Fucking Rockwell!.

Del Rey released two studio albums this year, Chemtrails Over the Country Club and Blue Banisters; the former spent a whopping nine weeks at No.1, beginning in late March and has sold 1.63 million to date. It is Del Rey’s most successful album of the year, coming in at No.4 on the Year-End Albums Chart. The latter commanded the weekly chart for three terms, starting in October, and finishes as the 18th biggest hit of 2021! It sold just over 900,000 units to rank as the 9th bestselling album of the year.

She also places a second album inside the Top Ten; her enduring juggernaut Norman Fucking Rockwell! (at No.5) which has maintained a chart presence throughout the entire year, and sold 1.14 million since January. NFR! is the first album to finish inside the Top Five of three seperate Year-End Charts; it ranked at No.3 for 2019 and then topped the 2020 rundown.

Her catalogue also drew in huge sales, and she places her entire discogprahy inside the Top Fifty. Other than her new releases, Born to Die: the Paradise Edition lands highest at No.25. Honeymoon, Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass & Lust for Life are all clustered at No.38, No.39 and No.40 respectively. Her 2014 sophomore record Ultraviolence nabs the No.48 position.

Overall, Del Rey sold 5.34 million albums in 2021 and spent a combined twenty weeks at No.1 across the Weekly Top Fifty, and the discontinued Contemporary & Catalogue Albums Charts – she spent more weeks at No.1 this year than any other artist!

Bestselling Artists of 2021

1. Taylor Swift – 6.05 million
2. Lana Del Rey – 5.34 million
3. Stevie Nicks – 2.45 million
4. Adele – 2.26 million
5. Joni Mitchell – 1.59 million
6. Kate Bush – 1.30 million
7. Hayley Williams – 1.29 million
8. Miley Cyrus – 1.25 million
9. Birdy – 1.24 million
10. Halsey – 1.06 million

Halsey, the 10th bestselling artist of 2021, still ranks inside the Top 20 of the Year-End Chart, landing at No.17.

Bestselling Artists of the Decade (So Far)

1. Taylor Swift – 9.22 million
2. Lana Del Rey – 7.98 million
3. Stevie Nicks – 4.62 million
4. Ariana Grande – 3.19 million
5. Dua Lipa – 3.18 million
6. Adele – 2.82 million
7. Alanis Morissette – 2.77 million
8. Lady Gaga – 2.67 million
9. Kate Bush – 2.23 million
10. Hayley Williams – 2.22 million

YEAR-END ARTISTS

INDUSTRY SALES

2021 – The Biggest Year in Music History!

Since the beginning of 2021, a record-breaking 41.65 million albums have been sold, making it the biggest year since L.dK Weekly launched in 2017, and marks a fourth consecutive year of growth. The previous biggest year in music was 2020, when 40.25 million albums were consumed.

In addition, eight months of 2021 were the biggest on record in terms of albums sold, with November experiencing an all-time sales high of 4.71 million units!

Helping to swell this year’s record figures: the seven top-selling albums of the year each moved over a million units. In 2017, the first year of L.dK Weekly, three albums topped a million, while two did so in 2018. 2019 saw six LP’s cross the mark, while 2020 holds the record with seven million-selling albums.

2021 – Monthly Sales

• January – 3.03 million
• February – 2.94 million
• March – 4.13 million
• April – 3.36 million
• May – 4.11 million
• June – 3.29 million
• July – 2.65 million
• August – 3.64 million
• September – 3.18 million
• October – 2.61 million
• November – 4.71 million
• December – 3.95 million

Biggest Months on Record

• January 2021 – 3.03 million
• February 2021 – 2.94 million
• March 2021 – 4.13 million
• April 2020 – 3.93 million
• May 2021 – 4.11 million
• June 2020 – 4.65 million
• July 2020 – 3.82 million
• August 2020 – 4.05 million
• September 2021 – 3.18 million
• October 2021 – 2.61 million
• November – 4.71 million
• December – 3.95 million

Music Industry Year by Year

• 2017 – 20.63 million (adj.)
• 2018 – 21.22 million (adj.) [+2.8%]
• 2019 – 26.14 million [+23.1%]
• 2020 – 40.25 million [+53.9%]
• 2021 – 41.65 million [+3.4%]

Notably, this year’s music totals are just over double the adjusted figure for 2017, the first year of L.dK Weekly. 2021 needed just twenty-six weeks to surpasses 2017’s haul of 20.6 million; the following week it topped 2018’s draw of 21.22 million. In its thirty-fourth week, 2021 surpassed the entire year of 2019 (26.14 million), and in its fifty-first week it topped 2020’s total!

To date, L.dK Weekly has recorded total industry sales of 135.77 million units, dating to the chart’s inception in 2017.

ADELE RETURNS TO NO.1

30 reclaims the crown as Lana Del Rey’s Lust for Life re-enters Top Ten!

Adele‘s 30 ranks as the biggest album of the tracking week by a hefty margin, selling 101,000 copies in its ninth frame (down 21.1%). This marks the record’s eighth term out in front, after it slipped to No.2 last week, behind the Weeknd’s newly-released Dawn FM.

To date, 30 – which became the fastest-selling album of all time last year, selling 650,000 in seven days upon its release – has sold 1.78 million copies, making it the 21st bestselling album of all time, passing Jessie Ware’s Glasshouse (1.73 million). It is her 2nd bestselling album to date, behind only…

25 rebounds to No.19 this week on sales of 11,000 copies, bringing its total sales figure to exactly 2 million units! It is just the 13th album ever released to sell as many copies.

Adele’s bestselling albums are as follows:

1. 2.00 million – 25
2. 1.78 million – 30
3. 668,000 – 21
4. 399,000- 19

Now with eight weeks at the summit, 30 ties Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia and Halsey’s If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power as the 8th longest-running number-one album of all time!

1. Twenty-five weeks – Norman Fucking Rockwell! / Lana Del Rey
2. Twenty-one weeks – Blue / Joni Mitchell
3. Seventeen weeks – folklore / Taylor Swift
4. Thirteen weeks – evermore / Taylor Swift
5. Twelve weeks – A Star is Born – OST / Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper
6. Eleven weeks – Lust for Life / Lana Del Rey
7. Nine weeks – Chemtrails Over the Country Club / Lana Del Rey
8. Eight weeks – Future Nostalgia , If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power , 30.

Norah Jones rebounds 4-2 with Come Away With Me as the album moves a further 37,000 copies (up five percent).

Taylor Swift‘s evermore is up 5-3 on sales of 35,000 units (up sixteen percent); Swift also elevates 10-9 with folklore, selling 19,000 copies (up eleven percent).

Arlo Parks‘s Collapsed in Sunbeams regresses from its No.3 highpoint to No.4, selling 31,000 copies this week (down fourteen percent).

Last week’s chart-topper – The Weeknd‘s Dawn FM – tumbles to No.5 in its second week on sale. It registered a sharp 77% decline in sales, moving 30,000 units in its sophomore frame. It has sold 160,000 to date.

Lana Del Rey takes out three spot in this week’s Top Ten: three-week-leader Blue Banisters is a non-mover at No.6 (23,000 units – down fifteen percent); Norman Fucking Rockwell! ticks 9-7 (20,000 units – up five percent); and Lust for Life returns at No.10 with 18,000 sold (up eight-hundred percent).

Finally, Joni Mitchell‘s Blue sinks 7-8 (19,000 units – down twenty-one percent).

Onto Next Week: Adele’s 30 could earn a ninth week in pole position, possibly with another 100,000 sold. AURORA is also set for a Top Ten start with her new album The Gods We Can Touch, which could open with over 40,000 units.

L.dK Weekly Top 50

Notable Moves in the Top 50

No.12 – Tuesday Night Music Club / Sheryl Crow makes her first L.dK Weekly appearance at No.12 with her 1992 debut set. The album – spurred on by the success of “Strong Enough” – opens with sales of 15,000 units.

No.20 – Ladies of the Canyon / Joni Mitchell collects her sixth Top Twenty hit in under a year as Ladies (1970) lifts 21-20 for a new peak, selling 10,000 copies. It follows Blue (No.1 for twenty-one weeks); Song to a Seagull (No.2); Clouds (No.3); Blue 50: Demos & Outtakes (No.13); and Both Sides Now (also No.13).

No.26 – The Whole Story / Kate Bush’s only compilation album achieves a new certification this week as it surpasses 1.8 million in sales. It has now been certified 6 x Platinum!

No.27 – Love & Fear / MARINA’s 2019 smash-hit drops 13-27 this week, selling 9,000, although it becomes just the 14th album ever to sell 2 million copies!

L.dK Weekly Top Artists

THE WEEKND SCORES SECOND NO.1 ALBUM!

Dawn FM arrives at the top spot after a hotly contested battle with Adele’s 30!

The Weeknd debuts at No.1 on the L.dK Weekly Top Fifty with Dawn FM – his first studio album since 2020’s mega-hit After Hours. The album opens with first-week sales of 130,000 units, earning it the 35th biggest debut in history, and the biggest of the year to date. However, it marks a significant decline from After, which launched with 249,000 combined units in 2020.

Despite this sales drop, the No.1 debut means that The Weeknd is the first male artist to claim multiple chart-topping albums on L.dK Weekly. The only other male soloists to reach the summit are Harry Styles (Fine Line), Sam Smith (The Thrill of it All) and Troye Sivan (Bloom); Sivan also hit No.2 in 2020 with In a Dream.

With sales of 130,000 units, Dawn is already certified Gold for selling upwards of 100,000 copies; it is the R&B star’s third release to achieve this, following After Hours (4 x Platinum) and The Highlights (2 x Platinum).

In conjunction with the release, After Hours returns to the ranking at No.22 with sales of 10,000 copies – it is the first appearance by the LP since early 2021, and it nabs a 62nd week on the list. The Highlights also sneaks back onto the chart at No.49 with 5,000 sold.

Adele cedes control of the Top Fifty after seven consecutive weeks at the helm, as 30 descends to No.2 in its eighth charting week. It celebrates a gain in sales however, as it moved 128,000 copies this week, an increase of 8.4% from the previous week. The increase in sales comes after “Oh My God” recieved the single-treatment late in the week.

To date, 30 has sold 1.68 million copies, making it the 23rd bestselling album of all time, passing Lana Del Rey’s Chemtrails Over the Country Club (on 1.67 million).

Arlo Parks‘s Collapsed in Sunbeams returns to its peak position on L.dK Weekly as it surges 9-3 with sales of 36,000 units (up eighty percent). The album has now been certified Gold, having sold 125,000 to date.

Norah Jones‘s Come Away With Me descends 2-4 in its second week, collecting 35,000 units (down sixty-three percent). Like Collapsed, the soft-pop achieves a Gold plaque this week, having sold 129,000 in two weeks.

Taylor Swift places three records in the Top Ten this week: thirteen-week-leader evermore leads the pack as it slips 4-5 on sales of 30,000 copies (down twelve percent). Former chart-topper Red (Taylor’s Version) drops 6-8 with 20,000 sold (down twenty-nine percent) as folklore – which previously spent seventeen weeks at No.1 – ascends 11-10 with 17,000 units (even with last week).

Lana Del Rey‘s Blue Banisters slides 3-6 after spending its first eleven weeks inside the Top Five; it sold 27,000 units this week (down twenty-five percent).

Since its release, Blue Banisters has sold 1.01 million copies, making it Del Rey’s fifth album to sell over one million units! Only one artist can boast more – Stevie Nicks (six).

1. Norman Fucking Rockwell! – 4.77 million
2. Lust for Life – 2.83 million
3. Chemtrails Over the Country Club – 1.67 million
4. Born to Die: the Paradise Edition – 1.24 million
5. Blue Banisters – 1.01 million

NFR! retreats 8-9 this week (19,000 units – down ten percent) as it logs a 116th week in the Top Ten.

Rounding out the Top Ten: Joni Mitchell falls 5-7 with Blue (24,000 sold – down twenty percent).

Onto Next Week: Adele’s 30 is currently tracking to sell over 100,000 units for a ninth straight week, which would certainly earn the album an eighth stay at the top spot. The incumbent number-one – The Weeknd’s Dawn FM – could register second-week sales of roughly 75,000 units.

L.dK Weekly Top Fifty

Notable Moves Inside the L.dK Weekly Top Fifty

No.11 – Plastic Hearts / Miley Cyrus’s rock-oriented seventh studio album was one of the biggest hits of the past year, and has been a chart mainstay since its No.1 debut in December 2020. This week – as it sinks to No.11 in its 59th charting frame – it becomes just the 19th album in history to be certified 6 x Platinum for exceeding sales of 1.8 million units.

No.13 – LOVE + FEAR / MARINA’s biggest hit revists the list at No.13, selling 13,000 units following the deluxe re-release of her followup set Ancient Dreams in a Modern Land – that album returns further down the list at No.33 with 7,000 sold.

No.15 – Clouds / As a consolation prize for departing the Top Ten after spending its first two weeks in the region, Joni Mitchell’s No.3-peaking Clouds goes Silver for selling over 60,000 copies. It is Mitchell’s second set to earn the distinction; her 1971 record Blue has been certified Platinum five times over.

L.dK Weekly Top Artists

Industry Sales

Industry sales for the week stand at 885,000 units, improving by 15.8% from the previous week’s figure of 764,000 units. Compared to the same week last year (when 762,000 albums were sold), consumption is up by 16.1%!

Note

Certifications: Silver (60,000); Gold (100,000); Platinum (300,000); Multi-Platinum (600,000 etc.); Diamond (3,000,000).

ADELE TRIUMPHS FOR SEVENTH WEEK WITH 30!

Plus: Norah Jones’s Come Away with Me debuts at No.2 & Arlo Parks returns to Top Ten!

Adele‘s 30 continues to dominate the L.dK Weekly Top Fifty, shifting a further 118,000 units (down five percent) to win a seventh frame atop the list.

30 is currently tied as the ninth longest-running number-one album of all time, matching the reigns of MARINA’s LOVE + FEAR and Stevie Nicks’s Crystal Visions – the Very Best of Stevie Nicks. It is also the sixth longest-running chart-topper of the decade, just behind Halsey’s If I Can’t Have Love, I Want Power and Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia which both racked up eight weeks at the summit.

To date, the blockbuster has shifted a staggering 1.55 million copies in just seven weeks, becoming the fastest album in history to sell as many copies! Previously, Taylor Swift’s evermore held the distinction, clearing the 1.5 million mark in its eleventh week of sales.

30 is Adele’s second album to sell 1.5 million, following 25 which has shifted 1.98 million to date.

This feat adds to 30‘s burgeoning list of accolades; it was crowned the fastest-selling album of all time, selling 650,000 in seven days, and became the fastest album to sell a million copies, doing so in just three weeks!

Norah Jones pays her first visit to L.dK Weekly as her 2002 debut album Come Away With Me bows at No.2 with first-week sales of 94,000 units. The album is already certified Silver, selling over 60,000 copies.

Lana Del Rey descends 2-3 with former three-week-leader Blue Banisters, moving 36,000 units (down sixteen percent). Del Rey’s Norman Fucking Rockwell! – the longest-running number-one album of all time, boasting a twenty-five week – repeats at No.8 with 21,000 sold (up five percent) as it nabs a record-extending 115th week in the Top Ten.

Taylor Swift’s evermore holds at No.4 – following a whoping thirteen weeks in pole position – as it sells 33,000 copies (down six percent); her chart-topping Red (Taylor’s Version) also dips 5-6 with 23,000 sold (down thirty-two percent).

Joni Mitchell doubles up in the Top Ten this week, like Del Rey and Swift. Her highest-ranking hit is 1971’s Blue – which previously spent twenty-one weeks at No.1 – rising from No.6 to No.5, moving 30,000 units (up three percent). Clouds (1968) meanwhile drops from its No.3 high to No.7 in its second week (22,000 units – down forty-one percent).

Arlo Parks and Miley Cyrus round out the Top Ten: Collapsed in Sunbeams re-enters at No.9 after peaking at No.3 (20,000 units – up 19,000 percent) and chart-topping Plastic Hearts dips 9-10 (17,000 units – down ten percent.

Onto Next Week: The Weeknd could be bound for a No.1 debut with his new release Dawn FM; it will serve as the followup to 2020’s After Hours, a No.1 hit that has since sold over 1.4 million units. Adele’s 30 could also compete for the No.1 spot, as both records look primed to sell over 100,000 copies.

L.dK Weekly Top Fifty

Notable Moves in Weekly Top Fifty

No.13 – Both Sides Now / Joni Mitchell’s 2000 studio album debuts with sales of 15,000 copies in the week following Mitchell’s Kennedy Centre Honours. It earns the Candian singer-songwriter her fifth Top Twenty hit.

No.29 – Ladies of the Canyon / Joni Mitchell’s third studio album (1969) opens with 8,000 sold. It features the hit “Big Yellow Taxi” which was featured during the Honours Ceremony.

No.30 – Album No. 8 / Katie Melua’s eight studio album has now been certified 2 x Platinum for selling more than 600,000 units; it achieves the feat in its 64th charting week.

No.32 – Back to Black / Amy Winehouse’s smash hit has sold more than 1.42 million copies to date, and this week notches a 100th appearance on L.dK Weekly! It is the 14th album to spend at least 100 turns on the chart.

No.39 – The Wild Heart / Stevie Nicks’s sophomore album logs a 100th week inside the Top Fifty; it is the 15th album to do so, and the third to do so by Nicks. It follows Bella Donna (173 weeks) and Rock a Little (120 weeks).

L.dK Weekly Top Artists

Industry Sales

Industry sales for the week stand at 764,000 units, declining by 7.9% from the previous week’s figure of 828,000 units. Compared to the same week last year (when 779,000 albums were sold), consumption is down by 2.0%!

Note

Certifications: Silver (60,000); Gold (100,000); Platinum (300,000); Multi-Platinum (600,000 etc.); Diamond (3,000,000).

ADELE ENTERS 2022 STILL AT NO.1!

Plus: Joni Mitchell debuts at No.3 with Clouds; albums from Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus & Adele re-enter Top Ten!

It’s a brand new year for L.dK Weekly, yet Adele‘s 30 is still holding firm at No.1 for a sixth consecutive week. The album sold 124,000 this week, down 18.5% from the previous week’s haul of 152,000 units over the Christmas week.

30 debuted at No.1 on the chart dated 29 November and with sales of 650,000 units, became the fastest-selling album of all time. It is the fastest album to sell a million copies too, having done so in just three weeks. To date, 30 has shifted 1.43 million units, including 1.31 million in 2020.

Updated Accolades:

• Bestselling album of 2022
• 14th bestselling album of the decade
• 29th bestselling album of all time

Besides 30, Adele also ranks at No.10 with 25 (up from No.12) on sales of 18,000 copies (down nineteen percent).

Adele’s catalogue drew total sales of 148,000 units, making her the most popular artist of the week for a sixth straight frame.

Lana Del Rey‘s Blue Banisters rebounds 3-2 in its tenth week, selling 40,000 copies (down seventeen percent); Del Rey also moves 10-8 with Norman Fucking Rockwell! as the historic album tallies a record-padding 114th week in the Top Ten.

Joni Mitchell collects her third Top Five hit as her 1968 sophomore album Clouds premieres at No.3. The album – which includes notable tracks ‘Chelsea Morning’ and ‘Both Sides, Now’ – debuts with sales of 37,000 units. It follows 1967’s A Song to a Seagull (No.2) and 1971’s Blue (No.1 for twenty-one weeks).

The latter record meanwhile ascends 7-6 as it moves 29,000 copies (up three percent). It also crosses sales of 1.5 million copies, becoming 26th album in history to be certified 5 x Platinum!

Taylor Swift‘s evermore and Red (Taylor’s Version) both lift one spot to No.4 and No.5, selling 35,000 and 32,000 copies respectively. The singer’s reputation also zooms 13-7 to return to the Top Ten for the first time since 2018. It sold 22,000 this week (up twenty-two percent).

Capping the Top Ten: Miley Cyrus’s Plastic Hearts swings 11-9 (19,000 units – down five percent).

Onto Next Week: Adele’s 30 – currently tracking to sell over 100,000 copies – should be assured of a seventh straight week at No.1.

Notable Moves in the Weekly Top 50

No.11 – Twelve Deadly Cyns … / Cyndi Lauper’s 1993 compilation album launches at No.11 selling 18,000 in its debut frame, earning Lauper her third consecutive Top Twenty hit. It joins She’s so Unusual which spent six weeks at No.1, and True Colors which topped out at No.5.

No.12 – Christmas / Michael Buble’s seasonal smash is the highest-ranking Christmas release of this week, as it slides from its No.4 highpoint. Now with sales of 60,000 to date, it earns a Silver certification.

No.19 – A Star is Born – OST / Lady Gaga & Bradley Cooper’s soundtrack is the Greatest Gainer this week as it surges 28-19; the album has sold just under 3.6 million copies to date.

No.21 – Born to Die: the Paradise Edition / Lana Del Rey’s debut studio album surpasses sales of 1.2 million this week, being certified 4 x Platinum. It is Del Rey’s fourth record to achieve this, following Norman Fucking Rockwell! (15 x Platinum); Lust for Life (9 x Platinum); and Chemtrails Over the Country Club (5 x Platinum).

No.27 – Californian Soil / London Grammar’s No.3-peaking hit has now become their first release to be certified Double Platinum for selling over 600,000 copies.

No.36 – A Christmas Cornucopia / Annie Lennox’s collection of carols and hymns earns a Silver plaque this week, becoming Lennox’s third such hit after Diva (8 x Platinum) and Medusa (6 x Platinum).

No.38 – The Other Side of the Mirror / Stevie Nicks’s 1989 album is the second album of the week to be certified 4 x Platinum, denoting sales of over 1.2 million It is Nicks’s fifth album to sell as many copies. It joins the hits Crystal Visions – the Very Best of Stevie Nicks (7 x Platinum); Bella Donna (6 x Platinum); Rock a Little (4 x Platinum); and The Wild Heart (4 x Platinum).

L.dK Weekly Top 50

L.dK Top Artists

Industry Sales

Industry sales for the week stand at 828,000 units, declining by 17.3% from the previous week’s figure of 1.001 million units. Compared to the same week last year (when 755,000 albums were sold), consumption is up by 9.6%!

Note

Certifications: Silver (60,000); Gold (100,000); Platinum (300,000); Multi-Platinum (600,000 etc.); Diamond (3,000,000).

2021 ENDS WITH ADELE STILL LODGED AT NO.1!

As 30 leads for fifth week, Kelly Clarkson, Michael Buble, Annie Lennox & Kate Bush send seasonal hits into the Top Ten; Dua Lipa’s Future Nostalgia goes Diamond!

Adele’s 30 which earlier this year became the fastest-selling album of all time, debuting at No.1 with 650,000 copies sold, logs a fifth straight week out in front as the most popular album of the moment.

30 sold 152,000 units this week, marking a sales increase of 10.9% compared to the previous week when the record moved 137,000 units. Since its release, 30 has sold 1.313 million copies, becoming Adele’s second album to be certified Quadruple Platinum for sales of over 1.2 million!

By reaching sales of 1.2 million in just five weeks, Adele’s blockbuster becomes the fastest album to do so, passing Lady Gaga’s Chromatica which sold 1.28 million in seven weeks in 2020.

Updated Accolades:

• 5th bestselling album of 2021
• 15th bestselling album of the decade
• 33rd bestselling album of all time

Adele’s catalogue drew total sales of 181,000 units, making her the most popular artist of the week for a fifth straight frame.

Christmas Hits: Kelly Clarkson’s Wrapped in Red leads a flurry of seasonal hits as it rockets 21-2 on sales of 50,000 copies – surging by 316 percent from the previous week’s haul of 12,000 units.

Red is Clarkson’s third Top-Five hit, following Meaning of Life (No.1) and Greatest Hits: So Far… (No.2). It is also her third album to be certified at least Silver, as Hits has been certified Gold and Meaning has been certified Double Platinum!

Michael Buble’s Christmas meanwhile debuts at No.4 shifting 43,000 units in its first week on sale.

Two stalwart figures of music history also enter the Top Ten with seasonal hits: Annie Lennox’s A Christmas Cornucopia reaches a new highpoint of No.8 (up from its previous peak of No.12) as it sells 27,000 copies (up sixty-eight percent); Kate Bush’s 50 Words for Snow drifts 14-9 on sales of 25,000 units (up seventy-eight percent) after previously peaking at No.12.

Lana Del Rey’s Blue Banisters sinks 2-3 selling 48,000 units (down two percent) as it passes sales of 900,000 units in its ninth week on sale. Blue is Del Rey’s sixth album to be certified at least Triple Platinum!

• 15 x Platinum – Norman Fucking Rockwell!
• 9 x Platinum – Lust for Life
• 5 x Platinum – Chemtrails Over the Country Club
• 3 x Platinum – Born to Die: the Paradise Edition; Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass; Blue Banisters

NFR! meanwhile reverses course 6-10 – although is up twenty-seven percent to 23,000 sold – as it tallies a record-extending 112th week inside the Top Ten!

Taylor Swift’s evermore steps down 4-5 on sales of 39,000 copies (up five percent) as her Red (Taylor’s Version) slides 3-6 with 35,000 sold (down seventeen percent).

Finally, Joni Mitchell’s iconic set Blue descends 5-7, selling a further 28,000 copies (up twenty-one percent).

Onto Next Week: Adele’s 30 should be bound for a sixth consecutive week at the summit, likely with sales of over 100,000 units. Cyndi Lauper’s Twelve Deadly Cyns… could also be on track for a Top Ten start, with over 30,000 units.

Notable Moves in the Top Fifty!

No.15 – folklore / Taylor Swift’s juggernaut – the essential record of 2020’s lockdown season – descends 11-15, selling 17,000 copies in its seventy-fourth week inside the Top Fifty. The album has now sold a total of 4.213 million units, becoming only the second album in history to be certified 14 x Platinum for sales exceeding 4.2 million!

No.19 – Christmas & Chill / As her 2014 Christmas EP debuts at No.19, Grande collects her sixth Top Twenty hit. It joins 2016’s Dangerous Woman (No.8); 2018’s Sweetener (No.1 for three weeks); 2019’s thank u, next (No.1 for four weeks); and 2020’s K Bye for Now (No.2) and Positions (No.1 for thre weeks).

No.20 – Future Nostalgia: Moonlight Edition / Dua Lipa’s sophomore studio album debuted at No.1 and spent eight weeks at the top spot over the Spring and Summer of 2020, selling 2.14 million copies and ending 2020 as the year’s No.2 biggest album! This week, as it clocks its 91st appearance on L.dK Weekly, it surpasses sales of 3 million copies, becoming just the fifth album in history to be certified Diamond! It comes just two weeks after Taylor Swift’s evermore became the fourth album to top sales of 3 million.

No.26 – Positions / Ariana Grande’s late-2020 smash has now topped sales of 1.2 million copies, becoming the singer’s third album to do so following Sweetener and thank u, next; those albums have been certified 7 x Platinum and 4 x Platinum respectively.

No.43 – Little Earthquakes / Tori Amos’s 1992 debut album is her biggest hit by a country-mile! This week, it becomes her first to sell over 1.2 million units – her second biggest-seller is 1994’s Under the Pink which has sold 180,000 to date.

No.47 – The Red Shoes / Kate Bush’s 1993 effort is her longest charting studio album – having clocked up 72 weeks on the chart – and this week becomes her second collection to sell more than one million copies! Her 1986 compilation album The Whole Story has sold 1.75 million to date.

L.dK Weekly Top 50

L.dK Weekly Top Artists

Industry Sales

Industry sales for the week stand at 1.001 million units, rising by 6.7% from the previous week’s figure of 938,000 units. Compared to the same week last year (when 865,000 albums were sold), consumption is up by 15.7%!

1.001 million is the third-largest sales week of the year, behind the weeks dated 29 November and 06 December when 1.435 and 1.047 million albums were sold.

Note

Certifications: Silver (60,000); Gold (100,000); Platinum (300,000); Multi-Platinum (600,000 etc.); Diamond (3,000,000).