Music

'21' has sold additional 144,000 units, moving its total sales to 5.82 million, while its lead single 'Rolling in the Deep' rakes in 5.81 million copies.

• Jan 5, 2012

AceShowbiz - It's a slow week on Billboard Hot 200, but that's advantageous for Adele. The British singer returns to the throne this week by selling 144,000 copies of her second studio album "21", a far cry (down 64|percent|) from what she got last week. However, the number was enough to end Michael Buble's five-week reign on the chart.

Although the number is considerably small, it's still bigger compared to the album sales pulled by the champion of the chart on the same first week of January last year. A year ago, it was Taylor Swift who bounced back to the first spot. The country music crooner reclaimed the crown by shifting only 77.000 copies of her album "Speak Now".

This marks Adele's 14th non-consecutive week on the hot spot. Additionally, the album becomes the first CD to spend the most weeks at No. 1 on the U.S. weekly rundown since the "Titanic" soundtrack album, which boasted Celine Dion's epic ballad "My Heart Will Go On", stayed at the penthouse for 16 weeks four years ago.

On top of that, Adele ties with Whitney Houston as a female artist who notches the third-most weeks at No. 1. The New Jersey singer got the feat with her self-titled album, and additionally held the best record with "The Bodyguard" soundtrack (20 weeks). The second-most weeks belonged to Carole King with "Tapestry" (15 weeks).

Beside being crowned the champion of this week's Hot 200, Adele is also officially announced as an artist with the biggest selling album and song in the U.S., something that has long been predicted by many. Throughout the year of 2011, she has sold around 5.82 million copies of "21", and raked in more than 5.81 million copies of "Rolling in the Deep".

Beside Adele, Drake also gets the advantage of the quiet week sales of the New Year. He climbs up from No. 5 to No. 3 with "Take Care" (72,000 copies, down 45|percent|). Fellow Canadian artist, Buble, suffers the opposite though. He is kicked out of the top 10, dropping from the first spot all the way down to No. 24 as his "Christmas" set only sells 20,000 units.

Billboard Hot 200:

1. "21" - Adele (144,000)
2. "Take Care" - Drake (72,000)
3. "Thug Motivation 103: Hustlerz Ambition" - Young Jeezy (67,000)
4. "Own the Night" - Lady Antebellum (54,000)
5. "Sorry for Party Rocking" - LMFAO (49,000)
6. "Ceremonials" - Florence and the Machine (47,000)
7. "El Camino" - The Black Keys (45,000)
8. "Mylo Xyloto" - Coldplay (44,000)
9. "Talk That Talk" - Rihanna (42,000)
10. "Now 40" Compilation - Various Artist (41,000)

1. "21" - Adele (5.82 million)
2. "Christmas" - Michael Buble (2.45 million)
3. "Born This Way" - Lady GaGa (2.1 million)
4. "Tha Carter IV" - Lil Wayne (1.92 million)
5. "My Kinda Party" - Jason Aldean (1.58 million)

1. "Rolling in the Deep" - Adele (5.81 million)
2. "Party Rock Anthem" - LMFAO (5.47 million)
3. "E.T." - Katy Perry (4.83 million)
4. "Moves Like Jagger" - Maroon 5 (4.11 million)
5. "Give Me Everything" - Pitbull (3.87 million)