Not that this will surprise any of you, but as reported this morning, sales figures from the Official Charts Company can confirm that Adele's second album - 21 - has sold 4,274,300 copies. What's newsworthy about this figure is not the number of albums sold but rather the fact that this means the Rolling in the Deep singer has now leapfrogged right past the late Michael Jackson, knocking him completely off the UK top 5 biggest selling albums of all time list. As it stands, Adele has already sold 500 more copies than the landmark Michael Jackson album and that is set to rise.
Adele's 21, an album that spent 23 weeks at number one, now resides up there with the best of them, including Queen and The Beatles. Not bad for a 23 year old (she's 24 tomorrow actually, Happy Birthday!) from Tottenham.
The album's already been out for ages but continues to sell an average of 20,000 copies a week. Commenting on Adele's achievement, Martin Talbot of the Official Charts Company said "To add to her many landmark records, Adele's achievement in overtaking Thriller in the all-time sales list is truly remarkable... Thriller has long been recognised as one of the most iconic albums of all time - there is now no doubt that 21 can be spoken of in the same breath."
Here be the revised UK Top 5 Albums of all time:
1) Greatest Hits - Queen
2) Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Beatles
3) Gold - Greatest Hits - Abba
4) What's The Story Morning Glory? - Oasis
5) 21 - Adele.
