Those who have been keeping up with my “Billboard Breakdown” series the past few months or so know I’ve taken a special interest in Adele’s 21 album for two specific reasons. One, because she was literally selling 100,000+ a week long after the project hit shelves. And two, the LP would eventually reach a status very have achieved in America – the coveted “diamond.”
According to Billboard, Adele’s groundbreaking album has officially surpassed the 10 million copies sold mark in the States making it only – wait for it – the 21st album to do so since tallies began being tracked 21 years ago (1991). Some of this stuff you just can’t make up.
More interesting was the amount of time it took for the songbird to reach the plateau. Only 92 weeks were needed for Adele, but fell far behind the mark of the two fastest – N’Sync (No Strings Attached in 43 weeks) and the Backstreet Boys (Millennium in 39 weeks).
Nielsen Soundscan has been quite busy in 2012 handing out diamond certifications. Adele’s the third to receive this honor following Linkin Park’s Hybrid Theory and Usher Confessions.
