Adele’s '25' officially UK’s biggest selling No.1 album ever

There was little doubt she would storm to No.1, but today the Official Charts Company can confirm that Adele’s '25' is the biggest No.1 album ever.

The highly anticipated album sold a staggering 800,307 copies this week, giving her the highest opening week sales in Official Chart history, beating Oasis’ previous record with 'Be Here Now' (who sold 696,000 in their debut chart week, though it was released on a Thursday so only registered three days of sales).

It’s been an incredible week for Adele. To put the sales figures into context, 25 has sold more than the rest of the Top 75 combined this week (the next 86 albums, to be precise) AND more than the last 19 No.1 albums in the UK combined. Its total sales figure this week means it already receives a 2 x Platinum certification from the BPI.

No album has previously sold more than 100,000 downloads in a week before - Adele has this week sold an incredible 252,423 digital copies of '25'. The previous record was held Ed Sheeran’s 'X', which sold 95,709 album bundles in Summer 2014. Still, 68% (548,000) of sales of '25' so far have been purchased physically. The album has achieved these sales totals without any album streams, which started counting towards the Official Albums Chart back in February.

Adele’s '25' also scored one of the biggest first day sales totals ever, shifting more than 300,000 copies in 24 hours at the start of the week, accounting for around 46% of the UK albums market on day 1! By comparison, when Adele’s last album '21' was first released in January 2011, it sold 208,000 copies in its first week and passed 500,000 sales in its fourth week on sale. It only achieved its biggest one-week tally in its 10th week on sale, a total of 258,000 copies.

Although it has a way to go yet to equal the 4.8 million UK sales of her previous album 21, 25 looks certain to challenge for more chart records in the coming weeks and months if current momentum continues.

Martin Talbot, Chief Executive, Official Charts Company comments: “The massive impact of 25 this week marks the moment that Adele has transformed herself from a phenomenon of our age to an all-time great. The statistics surrounding the album are staggering, topped by the simple fact that no album has ever sold 800,000 copies to reach Number 1 in the history of British music.

“What the future holds for 25 will unfold over the coming weeks and months, of course – but we can all be absolutely sure that more records will be toppled as Adele fever grips the nation in the run-up to Christmas.”

Adele has also provided a massive boost to the rest of the music market – as music fans flocked to record racks and download stores to pick up copies of 25, sales across the rest of the Top 40 were boosted by 21% compared to the previous week (674k v 558k), and by 145% compared to average sales across the previous 10 weeks.

Meanwhile, Elvis Presley climbs back up a place to No.2 with 'If I Can Dream', and Justin Bieber’s 'Purpose' is at 3. Enya scores her highest charting album in 18 years today with 'Dark Sky Island', which debuts at No.4. The record is the Irish singer’s first studio album in seven years and matches the peak of her 1997 'Best Of' collection.

Completing this week’s Top 5 are One Direction with their former No.1 album, 'Made In The A.M.'. Olly Murs’ Never Been Better re-enters the Top 10 at No.9 this week, thanks to a special edition re-release, and Take That’s re-pack of their latest album 'III' lands at No.11.

A new edition of 'Cilla Black – The Very Best Of' is new at No.17 this week (the album topped the Official Chart earlier this year after her death), Status Quo’s 'Accept No Substitute – The Definitive' enters at 21, and Tracy Chapman’s 'Greatest Hits' lands at No.30.

Finally, Maroon 5’s 'Singles' collection (35), Benjamin Clementine’s Mercury Prize-winning album 'At Least For Now' (37) and Queen’s 'A Night At The Odeon\ (40) all earn a place in this week’s Top 40.

Watch Adele fooling some impersonators here: