Billboard 200 3/3/12: Adele #1 730k

[Adam (UTR)]

Adele's "21" album hits a number of major milestones this week on the Billboard 200 chart, as it basks in the glow of the British diva's multiple Grammy Award wins on Feb. 12.

The album sold 730,000 copies in the U.S. last week (ending Feb. 19) according to Nielsen SoundScan -- up a whopping 207%. It spends a 21st week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart.

It is the biggest sales week for any album since Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter IV" debuted at No. 1 with 964,000 on the chart dated Sept. 17, 2011. 730,000 is also the largest week for "21," as its previous-best week came over the Christmas holiday, when it shifted 399,000.

More impressively, the last time a non-debuting album sold more than "21" did this past week was on the chart dated Jan. 5, 2008. That was when Josh Groban's "Noel" album moved 757,000 copies over the busy Christmas week of 2007.

Among all albums, since SoundScan started tracking sales in 1991, "21" has the second-largest sales week for an album outside of the Christmas shopping season and its first month of release. Only the "Titanic" soundtrack moved more (with those qualifiers) on the chart dated Feb. 28, 1998, when it sold 848,000 at No. 1 -- two months after its debut. (It had a huge gain that week on the chart -- it was up by 44% -- thanks to the Valentine's Day holiday.)

"21" is No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart for a 21st nonconsecutive week, marking the longest-running No. 1 album in the SoundScan era. It surpasses "The Bodyguard" soundtrack (20 weeks at No. 1 in 1992-1993) for the most chart-topping frames since the Billboard 200 began using SoundScan data in 1991.

"21" -- Adele's second album -- also becomes the longest-running No. 1 album by a woman in history, surpassing the Whitney Houston-led "Bodyguard" album.

Next up in "21's" sights is M.C. Hammer's "Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em," which also banked 21 weeks at No. 1 back in 1990.

Here are the albums with the most weeks at No. 1 in the nearly-56 year history of the Billboard 200 chart:

Weeks at No. 1, Title, Artist, Peak Year
54, "West Side Story" soundtrack, 1962**
37, "Thriller," Michael Jackson, 1983
31, "Rumours," Fleetwood Mac, 1977
31, "South Pacific" soundtrack, 1958
31, "Calypso," Harry Belafonte, 1956
24, "Purple Rain," Prince and the Revolution/Soundtrack, 1984
24, "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack, 1978
21, "Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em," M.C. Hammer, 1990
21, "21," Adele, 2011

** (The figure of 54 weeks at No. 1 combines the set's time atop separate stereo and mono LP charts before the Billboard 200 became a singular ranking the week of Aug. 17, 1963.)

"21" also turns one-year old on the Billboard 200 as it claims its 52nd week on the list. The album has never left the top 10 in its entire chart run, dipping only as low as No. 7 on Dec. 10, 2011.

Adele is not only No. 1 on the Billboard 200 this week, but she's also No. 4 with her debut set, "19" (87,000; up 144%). It's the album's best sales week and highest position. Combined, "21" and "19" moved 817,000 copies last week.

This is the first time an act has two concurrent albums in the top four of the chart since Oct. 9, 2004, when Nelly's concurrently-released "Suit" and "Sweat" were Nos. 2 and 4 in their second week on the chart.

The last time an act snared two albums in the top five -- that weren't released at the same time -- was on April 4, 1992. That was when Garth Brooks' "Ropin' the Wind" was No. 2 and "No Fences" was No. 4.

It should be noted that while Billboard 200 has allowed catalog (older) albums to chart since the end of 2009 (thus why we see "19" in the top four), that wasn't always the case. On the now-defunct Top Comprehensive Albums chart (which ranked both new and old albums), Michael Jackson posthumously notched three out of the top four during seven nonconsecutive weeks in 2009.

Finally, "21's" so-far three singles moved an incredible number of downloads last week -- a combined total of 709,000. "Rolling in the Deep" shifted 271,000 (up 115%), "Set Fire to the Rain" did 254,000 (up 36%) and "Someone Like You" sold 183,000 (up 44%).

www.billboard.com/news/adele-s-21-hits-21st-week-at-no-1-sells-1006245952.story#/news/adele-s-21-hits-21st-week-at-no-1-sells-1006245952.story

[Rodze]

By tomorrow morning it'll be 750k. lol

Among all albums, since SoundScan started tracking sales in 1991, "21" has the second-largest sales week for an album outside of the Christmas shopping season and its first month of release. Only the "Titanic" soundtrack moved more (with those qualifiers) on the chart dated Feb. 28, 1998, when it sold 848,000 at No. 1 -- two months after its debut. (It had a huge gain that week on the chart -- it was up by 44% -- thanks to the Valentine's Day holiday.)

Was really curious about these stats.

[Deleted]

54th biggest week overall by my count

[Deleted]

Here is your female-solo album list ----adding the multi-artist Bodyguard Soundtrack since it is Whitney dominated

1 Oops...I Did It Again Britney Spears 1,319,193 2000
2 Born This Way Lady Gaga 1,108,403 2011
3 The Bodyguard Soundtrack 1,061,000 1993
4 Speak Now Taylor Swift 1,046,718 2010
5 Feels Like Home Norah Jones 1,022,149 2004
6 Up! Shania Twain 874,000 2002
7 The Bodyguard Soundtrack 831,000 1993
8 Daydream Mariah Carey 759,959 1996
9 Britney Britney Spears 745,744 2001
10 As I Am Alicia Keys 742,426 2007
11 Adele 730,000 2012

[badrobot]

Didn't Bieber recently have 2 top 5 albums?

[ListenToItTwice]

Feb 21, 2012 21:14:23 GMT -5 badrobot said:

Didn't Bieber recently have 2 top 5 albums?

Yes. But they weren't two top four albums.

[Deleted]

Here is one of the charts for the Michael Jackson reference --- under todays rules MJ would have had the top 3

1 148 169 99 Number Ones, Michael Jackson  1 Billboard Comprehensive Albums 2009-07-11
2 RE-ENTRY 8 The Essential Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson 
2 3 RE-ENTRY 27 Thriller, Michael Jackson  (Diamond Certification) 28 2

[Rodze]

7,353,000 - Total number of copies "21" has sold in the U.S.


Next stop:

2005 ALL THE RIGHT REASONS NICKELBACK 7,572,000

[Deleted]

Top 10 for Beatles week in Sept 2009 - comprehensive chart

1 1 The Blueprint 3, Jay-Z 
2 2 4 3 The Time Of Our Lives (EP), Miley Cyrus 
3 NEW 1 Abbey Road, The Beatles  (Diamond Certification) 12
4 1 2 I Look To You, Whitney Houston 
5 RE-ENTRY 9 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles  (Diamond Certification) 11
6 NEW 1 Only Built 4 Cuban Linx... Pt. II, Raekwon 
7 NEW 1 The Beatles, The Beatles  (Diamond Certification) 19
8 NEW 1 Rubber Soul, The Beatles 
9 NEW 1 #1s ... And Then Some, Brooks & Dunn 
10 RE-ENTRY 3 Revolver, The Beatles 

[Deleted]

LOL last week she outsells Fearless, this week she outsells Some Hearts, and next week she looks likely to outsell All The Right Reasons. That was fast. I think she'll pass Confessions by the end of the summer tbqh...

And then Norah and Eminem Show aren't much further ahead after that. She could easily have the best selling album of the last 10 years.

[mew2]

#Andthatisall

[Deleted]

Feb 21, 2012 20:52:57 GMT -5 Rodze said:

By tomorrow morning it'll be 750k. lol

Among all albums, since SoundScan started tracking sales in 1991, "21" has the second-largest sales week for an album outside of the Christmas shopping season and its first month of release. Only the "Titanic" soundtrack moved more (with those qualifiers) on the chart dated Feb. 28, 1998, when it sold 848,000 at No. 1 -- two months after its debut. (It had a huge gain that week on the chart -- it was up by 44% -- thanks to the Valentine's Day holiday.)

Was really curious about these stats.

We we be hearing the the Titanic Soundtrack again soon. The movie is back in April

[GRRR]

No matter what anyone says, the album has cemented it's status as a legendary album :'( , #legendary

[Deleted]

Feb 21, 2012 21:30:48 GMT -5 @2m said:

Feb 21, 2012 20:52:57 GMT -5 Rodze said:

By tomorrow morning it'll be 750k. lol


Was really curious about these stats.

We we be hearing the the Titanic Soundtrack again soon. The movie is back in April

Just as long as that Celine song isn't re-released as well. Heard enough of that one to last several lifetimes back in 1997-98. ;)

[₫anny Jerz ♔]

Absolutely historic sales for the current sales climate. It's just great to see the industry flourishing in some way.

[allow that]

Does anyone happen to know what Santana's Supernatural sold in Grammy week in 2000? I remember that being praised for extraordinarily high albums sales for an album of its age that week, and 2000 was so much healthier of a retail climate.

[Deleted]

What was grammy week, I will look it up

[allow that]

They took place on February 23, 2000. Not sure of the ending date of the reflective chart period. Somewhere around that time though.

Thanks, that's really nice of you!

[Deleted]

Chart date 3/11/2000

583,000

[allow that]

Feb 21, 2012 23:12:19 GMT -5 @2m said:

Chart date 3/11/2000

583,000

Thanks. Damn- Adele did better in 2011. :o

[damazz09]

from USA today: www.usatoday.com/life/music/news/story/2012-02-20/adele-grammys-sales-boost-21/53199190/1

Adele's 21 sold a staggering 730,000 copies, its biggest week to date, in the seven days after the British singer's six-trophy Grammy sweep, according to Nielsen SoundScan. It marks 21's one-year anniversary on the chart. During that time, it never fell out of the top 10, dropping to its lowest position, No. 7, in December.

The album notches its 21st non-consecutive week at No. 1, the longest-running chart-topper in the SoundScan era. It breaks the 20-week record set by 1992's The Bodyguard soundtrack.
Adele's debut 19 sold 83,000 copies to rank No. 4, up 144%.

The 21 jump represents the steepest post-Grammy total in SoundScan history and brings the album's total to 7.35 million. A week earlier, 21 sold 237,000 copies. By contrast, Santana's eight-Grammy haul in 2000 resulted in a Supernatural spike to 583,000 copies from 219,000 the week before. And Norah Jones' five wins in 2003 sent Come Away With Me to a sky-high 620,000 copies from 144,000.

Adele's sales were fueled by wins in all categories she was nominated, including best album, record and song, and her triumphant return to the stage after throat surgery. Her sterling performance of massive hit single Rolling in the Deep was widely regarded as a peak moment of the Feb. 12 telecast.
She also sang the song at Tuesday night's Brit Awards, England's equivalent of the Grammys, where she was awarded prizes for best album and best British female solo artist.

[skizzo]

Feb 21, 2012 23:12:19 GMT -5 @2m said:

Chart date 3/11/2000

583,000

Full top10 if anyone is curious:


01 583,071 SUPERNATURAL Santana
02 176,576 2001 Dr Dre
03 132,743 CHRISTINA AGUILERA Christina Aguilera
04 130,232 DEVIL WITHOUT A CAUSE Kid Rock
05 128,615 EUROPOP Eiffel 65
06 123,572 ON HOW LIFE IS Macy Gray
07 121,779 ALL THE WAY...A DECADE OF SONG Celine Dion
08 115,235 FLY Dixie Chicks
09 113,466 GRAMMY NOMINEES 2000 Various
10 111,078 AND THEN THERE WAS X DMX

[Deleted]

Outsold "Femme Fatale" in one week a year after it's release. Ouch.

[Enigma.]

And many other #1 albums as well.

So that was very unnecessary. But sort of puts things into perspective.

[I Wish]

Feb 22, 2012 2:04:05 GMT -5 Enigma. said:

And many other #1 albums as well.

So that was very unnecessary.

[Enigma.]

Very interesting to see how 21 manages to maintain its momentum next week... Over 200k should put it comfortably ahead of Tyga.

[Envoirment]

730k!? It did even better than HITS predicted! The album should be at 8mil by the end of March at the latest I think!

[Rodze]

The story of Adele sales:

First prediction: "will blow past the 399k"
Second prediction: "between 550-600k"
Third prediction: "650-680k"
HITS numbers: 716k
SoundScan numbers: 730k

Always underestimated.

[HolidayGuy]

music.yahoo.com/blogs/chart-watch/week-ending-feb-19-2012-albums-21-21-140342510.html;_ylt=AumIxYzsICEfJsSkmBjOLJ8PwiUv;_ylu=X3oDMTFoaWdtNXJpBG1pdANNdXNpYyBCbG9nIEluZGV4BHBvcwMxBHNlYwNNZWRpYUJsb2dJbmRleFRlbXA-;_ylg=X3oDMTFvcGs0cnBnBGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDBHBzdGNhdANibG9nBHB0A3NlY3Rpb25zBHRlc3QD;_ylv=3

Week Ending Feb. 19, 2012. Albums: 21 For 21
By Paul Grein | Chart Watch

Adele's 21 logs its 21st week at #1 on The Billboard 200, which is the longest that any album has remained on top since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales for Billboard in 1991. The album sold 730,000 copies in its 52nd week, which is more than any album has sold this deep into its chart run. It blows past a record set nine years ago by Norah Jones' Come Away With Me, which sold 621K in its 53rd week in March 2003. Both albums owed their late surges to a Grammy sweep. Jones won five awards; Adele won six.

Other factors fueling Adele's surge: a 60 Minutes profile that preceded the Grammys, Valentine's Day gift-giving and a string of three straight #1 singles.

The last album to log 21 weeks at #1 was M.C. Hammer's Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em in 1990.

This is the longest that an album by a female solo artist has held the top spot since the album chart became a weekly feature in 1956. 21 surpasses Whitney Houston's The Bodyguard, which logged 20 weeks on top in 1992-1993.

Adele has a second album in this week's top five. Her 2008 debut album 19 jumps from #9 to #4, its highest ranking to date. Adele's two albums sold a combined 817K copies this week, which is more than all the other albums in the top 18 combined (809K).

21 is only the fourth album in the history of The Billboard 200 to spend its first 52 weeks inside the top 10. Fleetwood Mac's Rumours spent its first 52 weeks in the top 10 in 1977-1978. Bruce Springsteen's Born In The U.S.A. spent its first 84 weeks in the top 10 from 1984 into 1986. Celine Dion's Falling Into You spent its first 59 weeks in the top 10 in 1996-1997.

21 tops the 7 million mark in U.S. sales in its 52nd week. It's the first album to reach 7 million that quickly since Usher's Confessions hit that plateau in its 36th week in November 2004. Two other albums that have been released since Confessions have sold 7 million or more copies, but they both took much longer to hit the 7 million mark. Nickelback's All The Right Reasons took three years and two months. Carrie Underwood's Some Hearts took four years and eight months.

21 has sold 7,353,000 copies, which is more than any album since All The Right Reasons, which was released in October 2005. It has sold more copies than any album by a female artist since Norah Jones' Come Away With Me, which came out in February 2002. (The current sales tallies on those albums: 7,575,000 and 10,802,000, respectively.)

Pop Quiz: This is the eighth consecutive week at #1 for 21. What was the last album to top the chart eight weeks in a row? (This is a tough question that I bet practically no one will get right. Let that be a challenge to you.) Answer below.

Shameless Plug I: 21 and Please Hammer Don't Hurt 'Em have something in common. Both are those artists' sophomore albums. They are the most successful sophomore albums in chart history. Over the weekend, I posted a Chart Watch Extra in which I looked at the top 16 sophomore albums, in terms of total weeks they held the top spot. The list includes such classic works as Carole King's Tapestry and Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP. I also explore why sophomore albums are so often stellar. (Hint: The artists are warmed up, revved up and eager to make their mark.) If you missed it, here's a link.

Shameless Plug II: As noted, Adele's 21 this week surpasses Whitney Houston's The Bodyguard soundtrack for the longest run at #1 by a female artist on The Billboard 200 since 1956. This probably isn't the last time this year that Adele will surpass a record set by Houston. Adele's Live At The Royal Albert Hall logs its 12th week at #1 on Top Music Videos. Houston has held the record for female artists on that chart since 1986, when her pThe #1 Video Hits logged 22 weeks on top. I looked at similarities between the two women in a Chart Watch Extra that went up yesterday. If you missed it, here's a link.

Quiz Answer: The last album before 21 to spend eight consecutive weeks at #1 was Creed's Weathered, which was #1 for its first eight weeks in 2001-2002.

Whitney Houston's The Greatest Hits jumps from #6 to #2 in the first full week following her death. The album thus surpasses its initial peak of #5 in 2000. This is similar to the situation with Michael Jackson's Number Ones, which peaked at #13 when it was first released in November 2003. It, too, did better after his death as fans reconnected with music that once meant a lot to them. Number Ones was the best-selling album in the U.S. for six weeks in the summer of 2009.

This is the highest-charting greatest hits album since Frank Sinatra's Nothing But The Best debuted and peaked at #2 in May 2008. (Of course this stat must carry an asterisk because Jackson's Number Ones didn't get to play on the big chart.) Both Houston and Sinatra were born in New Jersey. Both artists were nicknamed "The Voice."

This is Houston's highest ranking on The Billboard 200 since The Bodyguard logged its 26th and last week in the top two in May 1993. The subsequent Waiting To Exhale (which logged five weeks at #1) isn't considered a Houston album.

Two other Houston albums are listed in this week's top 50. Whitney Houston jumps from #72 to #37. The Bodyguard soundtrack jumps from #80 to #38.

The Greatest Hits is #1 on Top Catalog Albums for the second week. This is the second time that Adele's 19 has been bumped out of the #1 spot on the catalog chart by a resurging album by a fallen pop star. Amy Winehouse's Back To Black was the top catalog album for four weeks last summer.

This marks the first time that two catalog albums have ranked among the top five best-selling albums in the U.S. since September 2009, when the Beatles' Abbey Road and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band ranked #3 and #5 among all albums.

Grammy Nominees 2012 rebounds from #8 to #5 in its fourth week. The album's resurgence isn't surprising. The telecast enjoyed its best ratings since the 1984 edition when a red-hot Michael Jackson became the first artist to win eight awards in one night.

This week's top 10 includes winners from this year's Grammys (Adele, Lady Antebellum and The Civil Wars), music that won in past years (Adele's "Chasing Pavements," Bruno Mars' "Just The Way You Are" and several of the hits on Whitney Houston's compilation) and, perhaps, winners from next year's show. Paul McCartney and Van Halen will both be in the mix next year. They're early front-runners for, respectively, Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album and Best Hard Rock Performance. You read it here first.

The Civil Wars' Barton Hallow jumps from #41 to #10 in its 54th week. This is the album's highest ranking to date. The album, which won two Grammys including Best Folk Album, had climbed as high as #12.

Katy Perry's "Part Of Me" enters Hot Digital Songs at #1. It sold 411K copies this week. But one song sold even more copies, if you combine the three different versions that appear on this week's chart. That, of course, is "I Will Always Love You." Whitney Houston's version sold 367K copies. Amber Riley's version from Glee sold 36K copies. Jennifer Hudson's version from the Grammys sold 15K. Grand total: 418K. Will "Part Of Me" also enter the Hot 100 at #1? You'll find out later today when we post Chart Watch: Songs.

Here's the low-down on this week's top 10 albums.

1. Adele, 21, 730,000. The album logs its 21st week at #1. This is its 52nd week in the top 10. The album is #1 on Top Digital Albums for the 14th week. It sold 176K digital copies this week. Six songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "Rolling In The Deep," which rebounds from #10 to #3.

2. Whitney Houston, The Greatest Hits, 175,000. The album jumps from #6 to #4 in its 31st week. This surpasses the album's original #5 peak from May 2000. This is the album's fourth week in the top 10. Twenty-four Houston songs are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "I Will Always Love You," which jumps from #3 to #2.

3. Various Artists, Now 41, 94,000. The album holds at #3 its second week. The album has sold 236K copies.

4. Adele, 19, 87,000. The album jumps from #9 to #4 in its 122nd week on the chart. This is its highest ranking to date. This is its third week in the top 10. Two songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs. "Chasing Pavements" vaults from #180 to #96. "Make You Feel My Love" jumps from #145 to #108.

5. Various Artists, Grammy Nominees 2012, 85,000. The album rebounds from #8 to #5 in its fourth week. It has been in the top 10 the entire time. The album has sold 222K copies.

6. Van Halen, A Different Kind Of Truth, 58,000. The album drops from #2 to #6 in its second week. No songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, which does not bode well for the album.

7. Paul McCartney, Kisses On The Bottom, 58,000. The album drops from #5 to #7 in its second week. "My Valentine" enters Hot Digital Songs at #177.

8. Bruno Mars, Doo-Wops & Hooligans, 38,000. The album rebounds from #30 to #8 in its 72nd week. This is its 12th week in the top 10; its first since the week ending March 6, 2011. Four songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs, topped by "Runaway Baby," which vaults from #152 to #33.

9. Lady Antebellum, Own The Night, 37,000. The former #1 album rebounds from #17 to #9 in its 23rd week. This is its 12th week in the top 10. The album is #1 on Top Country Albums for the 10th week. Two songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs. "Just A Kiss" dips from #83 to #84. "Dancin' Away With My Heart" drops from #111 to #137.

10. The Civil Wars, Barton Hollow, 36,000. The album vaults from #41 to #10 in its 54th week. This is its first week in the top 10. Two songs from the album are listed on Hot Digital Songs. "Barton Hollow" re-enters at #103. "Poison And Wine" re-enters at #187.

Three albums drop out of the top 10 this week. The Fray's Scars & Stories drops from #4 to #14, Dierks Bentley's Home drops from #7 to #24 and Drake's Take Care drops from #10 to #12.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn: Part 1 jumps from #22 to #16 in its 15th week. The album has climbed as high as #4. The album is #1 on Top Soundtracks for the fifth week. It has been the top soundtrack to a theatrically-released movie for 11 weeks.

Adele's Live At The Royal Albert Hall is #1 on Top Music Videos for the 12th straight week. That's the longest run at #1 for a video by a female artist since Barbra Streisand's Barbra—The Concert held the top spot for 16 weeks from 1994 to 1996. The all-time record for a video by a female artist is Whitney Houston's The #1 Video Hits, which held the top spot for 22 weeks in 1986. Will Adele top that mark? Place your bets. (Adele's DVD sold 74K copies this week, bringing its total to 649K.)

Safe House was #1 at the box-office over the weekend. Ramin Djawadi composed the score, which is not on the chart.

Coming Attractions: Tyga's Careless World is expected to be next week's top new entry. Also due: fun's Some Nights and Sleigh Bells' Reign Of Terror.

Chart Watch Extra: Adele & Whitney
Posted Wed. Feb. 22, 2012 by Paul Grein | Chart Watch

Adele's 21 this week breaks the record for the longest run at #1 by a female artist since The Billboard 200 album chart became a weekly feature in 1956. 21 logs its 21st week on top with a Grammy-fueled sales tally of 730,000 copies. The old record was held by Whitney Houston, whose The Bodyguard soundtrack held the top spot for 20 weeks in 1992-1993.

Adele is starting to close in on another record that Houston has held since 1986: the longest run at #1 on Billboard's Top Music Videos chart by a female artist. Adele's Live At The Royal Albert Hall is about to log its 12th week at #1. Houston's The #1 Video Hits held the top spot for 22 weeks in 1986. (More about that later.)

Adele was born on May 5, 1988, just two weeks after Houston set a record (which still stands) as the only artist to achieve seven consecutive #1 singles on the Hot 100. The two singers have a lot in common. Both were gifted with big, legitimate voices. Both were very young when they started. Adele was just 20 when her debut album, 19, was released. Houston was 21 when her debut, Whitney Houston, was released.

Both of these albums were sleeper hits. Adele's album entered The Billboard 200 at #62 and broke into the top 10 in its 36th week. Houston's album entered the chart at #166 and broke into the top 10 in its 23rd week.

Both singers won a Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for a song from their debut albums. Houston scored with "Saving All My Love For You," Adele with "Chasing Pavements." In addition, Adele won for Best New Artist. Houston would unquestionably have also won that award, but was ruled ineligible because of a technicality: She had been featured on Teddy Pendergrass' R&B hit "Hold Me" the year before. (The Recording Academy is less unyielding about such matters today.)

Both artists entered The Billboard 200 at #1 with their sophomore albums. Houston's 1987 album Whitney was only the fifth album, and the first by a female artist, to debut at #1. Both Whitney and Adele's 21 were hit-laden. Whitney spawned four #1 singles: "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)," "Didn't We Almost Have It All," "So Emotional" and "Where Do Broken Hearts Go." 21 has yielded three #1 singles: "Rolling In The Deep," "Someone Like You" and "Set Fire To The Rain." Houston's sophomore album didn't sweep the Grammys, as Adele's did, but it did bring her a second award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female for "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)."

The biggest hits by Houston and Adele, "I Will Always Love You" and "Rolling In The Deep," also achieved comparable success. "I Will Always Love You" was only the second single to be certified for U.S. sales of 4 million physical copies by the Recording Industry Assn. of America. It followed USA for Africa's 1985 humanitarian anthem "We Are The World."

Six more singles have since reached this mark: a Disney children's record, "Bambi," Elvis Presley's double-sided 1956 smash "Don't Be Cruel"/"Hound Dog," the Beatles' 1968 classic "Hey Jude," Tag Team's 1993 hit "Whoomp! (There It Is)," Los Del Rio's 1996 novelty smash "Macarena," and Elton John's tribute to the late Princess Diana, "Candle In The Wind 1997" (which towers over them all with RIAA-certified sales of 11 million).

"Rolling In The Deep" was only the seventh song to top the 6 million mark in digital sales, according to Nielsen SoundScan. This week it becomes the fourth best-selling song in digital history, trailing only the Black Eyed Peas' "I Gotta Feeling" and two hits by Lady Gaga, "Poker Face" and "Just Dance" (featuring Colby O'Donis). (It surpasses the Peas' "Boom Boom Pow.")

Both "I Will Always Love You" and "Rolling In The Deep" received Grammys for Record of the Year and in the appropriate performance category. "Rolling In The Deep" also won Song of the Year. "I Will Always Love You" would have won that one too, but it was ruled ineligible because Dolly Parton's song was already well-known prior to the Houston recording.

As noted, Houston's The #1 Video Hits topped Billboard's Top Music Videos chart for 22 weeks, which remains the record for a video collection by a female artist. Adele's Live At The Royal Albert Hall is already half-way to equaling the feat.

Here are the other video collections by female artists that have logged 10 or more weeks at #1 on Top Music Videos: Barbra Streisand's Barbra—The Concert (16 weeks from 1994 through 1996), Madonna's The Virgin Tour—Madonna Live (10 weeks in 1986), Mary-Kate & Ashley Olsen's Our First Video (10 weeks in 1993-1994) and Britney Spears' Time Out With Britney (10 weeks in 1999-2000).

Mary-Kate & Ashley are up there with Whitney, Barbra, Adele, Madonna and Britney? It's a crazy business.

One final note: Houston's death the day before the Grammys inevitably overshadowed Adele's sweep of the awards, but it also doubtless increased the size of the TV audience. This year's show had a total audience of 39.9 million, which was up nearly 50% from last year's audience of 26.7 million. It was the second highest-rated Grammy telecast ever, topped only by the 1984 show when a red-hot Michael Jackson swept the awards. The huge audience for this year's show is a key reason that Adele's 21 sold 730K copies this week.

[Enigma.]

Very impressed by The Civil Wars.