It’s been only three days since the release of 25, but Adele has already sold a whopping 2.3 million copies.
The impressive numbers — which will no doubt only grow over the next couple days as the LP continues to be kept off streaming platforms — all but confirm that the pop singer will break the US record for first-week album sales. That honor is currently held by N*SYNC, who moved 2.415 million copies of No Strings Attached off the shelves back in 2000.
As Billboard notes, 25 is only the second album to sell more than two million copies within its first seven days of release; this comes during a year where album sales continue to decline. Forecasters predict 2.9 million will be sold come the end of the week. For Adele and her camp, this shouldn’t come as much of a surprise — Adele’s 21 came out almost five years ago and 25 lead single “Hello” was the most downloaded song ever on iTunes in its first week.
Update – Sunday, November 29th: According to Billboard, 25 sold a grand total of 3.38 million copies in its first week of release.
Below, revisit her masterful Saturday Night Live performance of “Hello” from this past weekend.
