Adele Breaks Single-Week U.S. Album Sales Record in Four Days

Marianne Zumberge

It took only four days for Adele’s “25” to break the record for most albums sold in a single week, according to Nielsen Music.

“25” has sold more than 2.43 million units since dropping Friday, Nov. 20, making it the biggest seller of 2015. It has also surpassed the previous record-holder for single-week U.S. album sales, *NSYNC’s “No Strings Attached,” which sold 2.416 million in its first week of release in 2000.

Adele reaches another milestone with this huge sales record: “25” is the 20th album to have sold one million copies in a single week (at least since Nielsen started formally tracking sales in 1991). She joins the ranks of such super-sellers as Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Eminem, Britney Spears and even the Beatles. See the full list of million-plus-sellers below, courtesy of Billboard:

Adele; “25”; TBD*; Nov. 26, 2015 (*sales for debut week to be determined)
Taylor Swift; “1989”; 1,287,000; Nov. 2, 2014
Taylor Swift; “Red”; 1,208,000; Oct. 28, 2012
Lady Gaga; “Born This Way”; 1,108,000; May 29, 2011
Taylor Swift; “Speak Now”; 1,047,000; Oct. 31, 2010
Lil Wayne; “Tha Carter III”; 1,006,000; June 15, 2008
50 Cent; “The Massacre”; 1,141,000; March 6, 2005
Usher; “Confessions”; 1,096,000; March 28, 2004
Norah Jones; “Feels Like Home”; 1,022,000; Feb. 15, 2004
Eminem; “The Eminem Show”; 1,322,000; June 2, 2002
*NSYNC; “Celebrity”; 1,880,000; July 29, 2001
The Beatles; “1”; 1,259,000; Dec. 24, 2000
Backstreet Boys; “Black & Blue”; 1,591,000; Nov. 26, 2000
Limp Bizkit; “Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water”; 1,055,000; Oct. 22, 2000
Eminem; “The Marshall Mathers LP”; 1,760,000; May 28, 2000
Britney Spears; “Oops!…I Did It Again”; 1,319,000; May 21, 2000
*NSYNC; “No Strings Attached”; 2,416,000; March 26, 2000
Backstreet Boys; “Millennium”; 1,134,000; May 23, 1999
Garth Brooks; “Double Live”; 1,085,000; Nov. 22, 1998
Whitney Houston/Soundtrack; “The Bodyguard”; 1,061,000; Jan. 3, 1993

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