MUMBAI:British singer and Grammy award winner Adele reached the 10 million sales mark in the United States on Wednesday with her heartbreak album 21. She is the first British woman to reach the milestone, Nielsen SoundScan said.
21 became the third album to cross 10 million in 2012, along with Linkin Park's Hybrid Theory and Usher's Confessions. But it is the only album to reach the milestone in less than two years in the last decade, Nielsen said.
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) will give a diamond certification to album 21, to mark its 10 million milestones.
Other artists who have received this certification before include Michael Jackson, The Beatles and Madonna.
While, R&B star Rihanna scored her first No. 1 album with Unapologetic, selling 238,000 copies,on the Billboard 200 chart this week.“Unapologetic” sold 238,000 copies last week, which also represents the biggest sales week to this point for Rihanna, who until this week held the record for the musician with the most No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 without a No. 1 album, as noted by Billboard’s Keith Caulfield.
NARM president Jim Donio said in his statement, “Overall album sales volume (in US) is down about 4 per cent for the year, digital album sales volume is up about 15% and track sales are up 6%.” Album sales stand at 267.8 million compared with 278.7 million sales at this point last year.
Next big releases expected to get some attention would be Alicia Keys, Ke$ha, Bruno Mars, Green Day, and The Game.