Adele released 30 on Friday, and it is already the best-selling album of 2021 in the U.S., Billboard reports. More than 500,000 copies have sold between Nov. 19 and Nov. 21.
Adele’s fourth studio album bests the Taylor Swift’s previous reining top-selling record of the year, Evermore, which moved 462,000 copies through the week ending Nov. 18. Adele’s new LP has also had the biggest individual sales week of the year, eclipsing Red (Taylor’s Version), which sold 369,000 copies its debut week.
Should 30 debut at No. 1 on Dec. 4 when tracking for its debut week is reported, it will mark Adele’s third No. 1 following 2015’s 25 and her sophomore record 21 from 2011.
Adele’s “best album yet” is available in a variety of formats and exclusive editions. The artist recently requested Spotify to remove its shuffle function so that her album could be heard in the sequence that she had intended, and the streaming platform acquiesced.
In Adele’s cover story with Rolling Stone, she discussed the events — including her divorce and aftermath — that informed the album, which unfurls almost chronologically. During the interview, she revealed that “I Drink Wine” was originally 15 minutes long and discussed the bonus version of “Easy on Me” featuring Chris Stapleton.
From Rolling Stone US
