The list of albums Adele's '25' joins in the million-sold-in-a-week club will make you very nostalgic
Latest
Copy to clipboard
!
The success of Adele’s smash new album 25 is unprecedented, for a couple of reasons.
According to Nielsen SoundScan data, it has sold more copies—nearly 3.4 million—in its first week of release than any album released since 1991, the year sales tracking began. And not just by a little bit: by 40% more than the previous No. 1.
25 is also just the 20th album to sell more than 1 million copies in its first week of release since 1991.
Going through the other albums on that list will make you nostalgic for a simpler time in the world. Below is the list, in ascending order of units sold, compiled from Nielsen Soundscan data. And here is a Spotify playlist featuring the leading singles from each album (non-Spotify artists’ songs have been replaced with tasteful covers):
20. Lil Wayne — “Tha Carter III”
Year released: 2008
One-week units sold: 1,006,000
Lead single: “Lollipop”
19. Norah Jones — “Feels Like Home”
Year released: 2004
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
