As 21 logged 21 nonconsecutive weeks at the top yesterday, 365 days after being released, Adele surpasses Houston's The Bodyguard soundtrack to claim the longest run at the summit of the chart in Billboard history, making 21 the biggest female album on the chart ever. It shows no signs of stopping either, moving 730,000 copies last week.
Adele's record-breaking doesn't stop there. This also marks the first week in which a woman has had three singles in the top ten concurrently as the main artist, with "Set Fire To The Rain" at number two, "Rolling In The Deep" at number five and "Someone Like You" at number seven. The sales gain -- for Adele's three singles and album -- can be attributed to her big sweep two weeks ago at the 54th Grammys. The charts are only now seeing the impact because a full sales week had elapsed, giving the mad rush for Adele music enough time to affect the charts.
All this comes with the news that Adele is also the first artist, male or female, whose album has gone double-platinum on iTunes -- that's two million (!) digital copies of 21. Adele may also see a spike in sales come Sunday, when the Official Charts of the U.K. are refreshed, thanks to her showing at the Brit Awards on Tuesday night, where she took home two awards, for Best British Female and British Album of the Year.
Adele treated the Brit Awards, basically the U.K. sister to the Grammys, to a performance of "Rolling In The Deep." The more memorable part of the night, though, was when she flipped off Brit Awards executives for having the host cut her off during an acceptance speech for British Album of the Year.
Perhaps a measure to just how respected Adele is in the industry these days, Brit Awards organizers issued her an apology today, not the other way around. Surely that must be a record, too, being the first artist to receive an apology after giving the middle finger.
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