The Official Charts Company can today reveal that sales of Adele’s 21 have overtaken those of Michael Jackson’sBad in the UK.

Adele’s second album, 21, smashed the 4 million sales barrier after her BRITs performance last week and went on to bag the Number 1 spot on the Official Albums Chart for its 21st non-consecutive week at the summit. It has now sold nearly 61,000 more copies than The King Of Pop’s classic 1987 album, Bad.

Released on January 24, 2011, 21 has spent 57 weeks on the Official Albums Chart and has never left the Top 10. In just over a year it has sold over 4,020,000 copies, making it not only the biggest selling album...st Century, but also the eighth biggest selling album of all time. If 21’s post-BRITs momentum continues, in the next few weeks it could also eclipse sales of Pink Floyd’s 1973 album Dark Side Of the Moon (7) and Dire Straits’ 1985 album, Brothers In Arms (6).

“This is another incredible achievement to cap a year of incredible achievements for Adele,” comments the Official Charts Company’s managing director Martin Talbot. “By overtaking Bad, 21 has truly, officially cemented Adele’s place among the all-time greats. Who would bet against her improving further on that achievement, by taking steps towards the all-time Top 5?”

The Official Charts’ Top 10 biggest selling albums of all time are as follows:

01 GREATEST HITS – QUEEN (5,863,000)
02 SGT PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND – THE BEATLES (5,044,000)
03 GOLD: GREATEST HITS – ABBA (4,989,000)
04 WHAT'S THE STORY MORNING GLORY – OASIS (4,517,000)
05 THRILLER - MICHAEL JACKSON (4,248,000)
06 BROTHERS IN ARMS - DIRE STRAITS (4,152,000)
07 THE DARK SIDE OF THE MOON - PINK FLOYD (4,114,000)
08 21 – ADELE (4,020,000)
09 BAD - MICHAEL JACKSON (3,959,000)
10 GREATEST HITS II – QUEEN (3,887,000)

source

If this was the 90s she's be #1.

RKJCNE, I congratulate you.

Only do not forget that "21" ousted from the top-10 single album, Madonna, who was already there for over 20 years - The Immaculate Collection.

Theoretically, Adele can get even in the top five by the end of the year.

If this was the 90s she's be #1.

If this was the 90s, Adele would not sell even half, because the competition was very active and MANY BIG artists; Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys, Take That, Oasis, Mariah Carrey, etc.

Adele sold so well in the first place because there are practically no decent artists and competition in pop music today. IMHO. She's a good girl with a good voice, but nothing phenomenal.
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And about Michael: He has 2 albums in the top 10, enough to him. What a difference 9 or 8 place? De facto, only The Beatles in the 60s and the Queen (periods) in the UK were as big as Jackson in the 80s.

LiLi1992 said:

RKJCNE, I congratulate you.

Only do not forget that "21" ousted from the top-10 single album, Madonna, who was already there for over 20 years - The Immaculate Collection.

Theoretically, Adele can get even in the top five by the end of the year.

If this was the 90s she's be #1.

If this was the 90s, Adele would not sell even half, because the competition was very active and MANY BIG artists; Spice Girls, Backstreet Boys, Take That, Oasis, Mariah Carrey, etc.

Adele sold so well in the first place because there are practically no decent artists and competition in pop music today. IMHO. She's a good girl with a good voice, but nothing phenomenal.
-----------------------------------------------
And about Michael: He has 2 albums in the top 10, enough to him. What a difference 9 or 8 place? De facto, only The Beatles in the 60s and the Queen (periods) in the UK were as big as Jackson in the 80s.

Stay cute, I'm not blind I can see Slaydele outsold Madonna. That doesn't really mean anything to me since I love them both.

I think she'll top thriller, but the 4th spot is still quite a ways away.

Agreed on your 90s point, she could easily have been over shadowed by Alanis.

RKJCNE said:

Stay cute, I'm not blind I can see Slaydele outsold Madonna. That doesn't really mean anything to me since I love them both.

I think she'll top thriller, but the 4th spot is still quite a ways away.

Agreed on your 90s point, she could easily have been over shadowed by Alanis.

I just find it kind of funny that you love bad news for MJ soooo much.

Why dn.t you created a thread, when Adele replaced Madonna album of the top 10, it's obvious that getting into the top 10 is much more important than the movement in top 10.

Yes, it will overtake Thriller, so I wrote about a potential top 5, but I do not see it above, than 5th, the difference is big enough.

[Edited 2/29/12 7:36am]

LiLi1992 said:

RKJCNE said:

Stay cute, I'm not blind I can see Slaydele outsold Madonna. That doesn't really mean anything to me since I love them both.

I think she'll top thriller, but the 4th spot is still quite a ways away.

Agreed on your 90s point, she could easily have been over shadowed by Alanis.

I just find it kind of funny that you love bad news for MJ soooo much.

Why dn.t you created a thread, when Adele replaced Madonna album of the top 10, it's obvious that getting into the top 10 is much more important than the movement in top 10.

Yes, it will overtake Thriller, so I wrote about a potential top 5, but I do not see it above, than 5th, the difference is big enough.

Well there aren't articles that I've found about her beating M records, and I really do love bad news for MJ simply because of the outrageous reactions it gets on the .org.