Adele’s “21” finished 2012 as the best-selling U.S. album, with more than 4.41 million copies sold during the year.
Billboard reports that, for the first time since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking music sales in 1991, the same album finished as the nation’s best-seller for a second year in a row.
In 2011, “21” sold 5.82 million; earlier in 2012, it became the 21st album in the SoundScan era to sell 10 million copies.
"21" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart in March of 2011; it has yet to leave the list and has never been absent from the weekly top 40.
The year's second-biggest selling album is Taylor Swift's "Red," with 3.11 million. It's the fourth time Swift has had an album ranked among a year's top three sellers. In 2010, "Speak Now" was the year's No. 3 set (2.99 million), in 2009 "Fearless" was No. 1 (3.22 million) and in 2008, "Fearless" was No. 3 (2.11 million).
Read more at Billboard here.
Top 10 selling albums in the U.S. (2012)
01 – Adele – 21 (4.41 million)
02 – Taylor Swift – Red (3.11 mil)
03 – One Direction – Up All Night (1.62 mil)
04 – Mumford & Sons – Babel (1.46 mil)
05 – One Direction – Take Me Home (1.34 mil)
06 – Justin Bieber – Believe (1.34 mil)
07 – Carrie Underwood – Blown Away (1.2 mil)
08 – Luke Bryan – Tailgates & Tanlines (1.1 mil)
09 – Lionel Richie – Tuskegee (1.07 mil)
10 – Jason Aldean – Night Train (1.02 mil)
Adele
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