Adele’s ’30’ Is 2021’s Top-Selling Album in U.S. After Only Three Days

Adele’s new album 30 is the year’s top-selling album in the U.S. after only three days of release.

According to initial reports to MRC Data, the album, which was released Nov. 19, has sold more than 500,000 copies in the U.S. through Nov. 21. That makes it 2021’s top-selling album, surpassing sales of any album over the past 11 months combined. It beats the year’s previous top-seller: Taylor Swift’s Evermore, with 462,000 copies sold through the week ending Nov. 18. (Evermore was released in December 2020 but has continued to sell well in 2021.)

30 also easily claims 2021’s biggest individual sales week – surpassing the mark just set by the arrival of Swift’s Red (Taylor’s Version), which sold 369,000 copies in the U.S. in the week ending Nov. 18.

In terms of U.S. equivalent album units earned – a number that comprises traditional album sales, streaming equivalent album (SEA) units and track equivalent album (TEA) units – 30’s total stands at over 575,000, according to initial reports.

The current tracking week ends at the close of business on Nov. 25. Billboard is scheduled to announce the album’s official final first-week numbers on Sunday, Nov. 28, after MRC Data has completed processing the week’s data.

If 30 debuts at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart dated Dec. 4 (which reflects the tracking week ending Nov. 25), it will mark Adele’s third No. 1. She previously topped the list with her last two studio albums, 25 (10 weeks in 2015-16) and 21 (24 weeks in 2011-12).