Sunday, February 26, 2012

Adele Breaks Record By Selling 730,000 After Grammys

21 sets a new high mark for post-Grammy sales.
By Gil Kaufman


Adele backstage at the 54th Grammy Awards
Photo: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

<P><a href="http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/adele/artist.jhtml">Adele</a> is starting to make this look a little too easy. And also, who out there doesn't own <I>21</I> already? After all, they've had a full year to get their act together. In the same week that she celebrates <a href="/news/articles/1679599/adele-21-album-facts.jhtml">52 weeks on the <I>Billboard</I> 200</a> albums chart, all of them spent in the top 10, the singer set yet another high-water mark when she notched the biggest sales week yet following her <a href="/news/articles/1679311/adele-grammys-next-album.jhtml">Grammy Awards comeback</a>. In the wake of her six-for-six night at the awards show, Adele rolled up her biggest sales week to date, moving 730,000 copies, more than doubling her previous high mark of 399,000 for the week ending December 25, 2011, according to figures provided by Nielsen SoundScan. </p><div class="player-placeholder right" id="vid:625257" width="240" height="211"></div><p> The last album to sell more copies in a single week before Adele's big jump was <B>Lil Wayne</B>, whose <a href="/news/articles/1670314/lil-wayne-tha-carter-iv-billboard-sales.jhtml"><I>Tha Carter IV</I></a> moved 964,000 in August 2011. To put her giant leap into perspective, in her <a href="/news/articles/1679650/adele-21-one-year-anniversary.jhtml">52nd week on the charts, Adele</a> moved the third-highest amount of product of any artist in the past year, surpassed only by <B>Lady Gaga</B>'s <I>Born This Way</I> (1.1 million) and Weezy, and coming in ahead of highly anticipated chart bows by <B>Drake</B> (631,000), <B>Coldplay</B> (447,000), <B>Jay-Z and Kanye West</B> (436,000), <B>Lady Antebellum</B> (347,000), <B> Beyonc&#233;</B> (310,000), <B>Britney Spears</B> (276,000) and <B>Chris Brown</B> (270,000). Among the other records Adele set with her massive week: <b>&#187;</b> The biggest weekly sales increase following a Grammy win in the, um, 21-year history of SoundScan. With her 207 percent bump, Adele beat the previous record holder, <B>Norah Jones</B>, who sold 621,000 (a 331 percent increase) following her five Grammy wins in 2003 for <I>Come Away With Me.</I> <b>&#187;</b> With her massive sales hike, Adele became the first artist to go double-platinum on iTunes. <b>&#187;</b> With 21 non-consecutive weeks at #1, <a href="/news/articles/1679330/adele-whitney-houston-chart-record.jhtml">Adele now holds the record</a> for the longest #1 album by a woman in <I>Billboard</I> history, beating the record formerly held by the late <a href="http://www.mtv.com/music/artist/houston_whitney/artist.jhtml">Whitney Houston</a>'s soundtrack to "The Bodyguard." And it wasn't just <I>21</I> that got the Grammy love. Adele's debut, <I>19,</I> zoomed up five spots to #4 thanks to a 144 percent sales increase, with 87,000 copies sold, setting another one-week sales best by eclipsing its previous high of 71,000 units shifted for the week ending December 25, 2011. </p><div class="player-placeholder right" id="vid:693356" width="240" height="211"></div><p> In the first full chart week after her death, <a href="/news/articles/1679314/whitney-houston-death-album-sales.jhtml">Houston's only greatest-hits collection</a>, <I>Whitney: The Greatest Hits,</I> saw a sales increase of 174 percent, shifting 175,000 copies to move up four spots to #2. The rest of the top 10: <I>Now 41</I> (#3, 94,000), <I>2012 Grammy Nominees</I> (#5, 85,000), <B>Van Halen</B>'s <I>A Different Kind of Truth</I> (#6, down 69 percent in its second week on sales of 58,000) and <B>Paul McCartney</B>'s <I>Kisses on the Bottom</I> (#7, 58,000). A number of acts also got a significant Grammy boost, including performer <B>Bruno Mars</B>, whose <I>Doo-Wops &amp; Hooligans</I> rose 133 percent on sales of 38,000, bumping it up 22 spots to #8; <B>Lady Antebellum</B>, whose <I>Own the Night</I> was up eight to #9 (37,000, up 47 percent); and the <B>Civil Wars</B>, who rocketed up 31 spots to #10 with <I>Barton Hollow</I> (36,000, up 178 percent). <a href="/news/articles/1679090/grammys-2012-rihanna-coldplay-performance.jhtml"><B>Coldplay</B> got a more modest boost</a> from their performance, as <I>Mylo Xyloto</I> inched up three spots to #11 on a 26 percent sales increase to 35,000, while <a href="/news/articles/1679105/grammys-2012-recap-adele.jhtml">Grammy winners <B>Foo Fighters</B></a> were up 134 percent and 28 spots to #21 with <I>Wasting Light</I> (23,000). Further down the line, two other Houston albums, her self-titled debut and the soundtrack to "The Bodyguard," both sold more than 17,000 copies, seeing respective sales increases of 113 and 123 percent. Over on the iTunes charts, <a href="/news/articles/1679204/grammys-2012-katy-perry-russell-brand.jhtml">Grammy performer <B>Katy Perry</B></a> topped the singles tally with her new single, "Part of Me," followed by Houston's iconic cover of "I Will Always Love You," Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" and "Set Fire to the Rain" and <B>Kelly Clarkson</B>'s "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)." Coming in at #6 were <a href="/news/articles/1679545/fun-we-are-young-anthem.jhtml">buzz band <B>fun.</B></a> with "We Are Young," <B>Nicki Minaj</B> with "Starships," Brown's "Turn up the Music," Adele's "Someone Like You" and <B>One Direction</B>'s "What Makes You Beautiful." <I>21</I> was at #1 on the iTunes albums chart, followed by Houston's greatest-hits comp, the Civil Wars' <I>Barton Hollow,</I> Adele's <I>19,</I> Coldplay, the Grammy compilation, Mars, Clarkson's <I>Stronger,</I> the <B>Fray</B>'s <I>Scars &amp; Stories</I> and Grammy winner <B>Bon Iver</B>'s self-titled album. With Houston's chart record in the rearview, next up for Adele is the 24-week #1 reigns of the "Saturday Night Fever" and "Purple Rain" soundtracks. She should be safe for another week, as the only competition coming up in the next chart frame is from <B>Sleigh Bells</B>, <B>Tyga</B> and fun.</p>

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Source:
http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1679672/adele-breaks-record-sales-grammy.jhtml

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