The Adele train just keeps a-rollin' this week as her "21" album moves back up the Billboard 200 (up two spots to No. 2) with a 31% gain (101,000 sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan).
The mega-successful "21" also surpasses 9 million in U.S. sales too, becoming only the 29th album in the SoundScan era (1991-present) to cross the 9 million mark.
An album last reached 9 million a year ago this week (May 15, 2011) when Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band's 1994 set "Greatest Hits" tip-toed past the threshold.
"21" is also spending its 64th consecutive week in the chart's top 10, tying Paula Abdul's "Forever Your Girl" for the second longest top 10 run among albums by women. Leading the female pack is Alanis Morissette's "Jagged Little Pill," with 72 top 10 weeks. (Among all albums, the soundtrack to "The Sound of Music" has the most weeks in the top 10, with 109.)
Certainly, "21" is performing well beyond even the most optimistic expectations. Last September, after her performance at the MTV Video Music Awards, Adele's label, Columbia, projected that "21" would sell 4.5 million by the end of 2011 and 5 million-6 million by March 2012. By the time each benchmark rolled around, the album was about 1.5 million-2 million ahead of those forecasts.
As if you need reminding: "21" is clearly in a class all its own. "21" certainly seems poised to reach 10 million in the coming months, even without the singer herself doing much major promotion. She'll soon be seen in a one-hour NBC primetime special dubbed "Adele Live in London," which will air June 3.
