It has been confirmed that Adele has scored her second Christmas number one album. The singer’s latest release 30 has been confirmed as 2021’s Official Christmas number one album. The 33-year-old singer’s fourth studio album was released on 19th November 2021 via Melted Stone and Columbia Records to great acclaim, and sired multiple chart-topping tracks including the number one single “Easy On Me“.
Adele’s 2021 album release reached the number one position with 70,800 chart sales. The release’s sales figures are inclusive of 62,000 physical units sold over the last week. The Grammy award winning singer is no stranger to chart success nor Christmas chart success. Adele obtained her first Christmas number one album in 2015 with her third studio album 25.
Due to the album’s huge success, the singer is now joint first for this year’s longest-running number one album. Adele’s album shares the top spot with Oliva Rodrigo, both artists have spent five consecutive weeks at number one within the UK album official charts. Rodrigo’s debut studio album, Sour, was released on 21st May 2021 via Geffen Records and marked the meteoric rise of the 18-year-old singer.
Elsewhere within the charts this festive period, another chart-topper secures a big win. Ed Sheeran’s new album = lands at number two within the UK album charts. Sheeran is already accustomed to Christmas chart success, the singer entered two singles into this year’s seasonal chart competition. The 30-year-old singer placed at number two with “Merry Christmas”, his duet with Sir Elton John. Both artists also won this year’s Christmas number one single as a featured artist on Ladbaby’s “Sausage Rolls For Everyone”.
At number three this week is Voyage by ABBA, the iconic group’s new album was released on 5th November 2021 and was their first studio album since the 1981 release of The Visitors. This week’s album chart also sees a festive favourite place at number four, Christmas by Michael Buble has re-entered the charts. The Christmas album was originally released on 24th October 2011 and has remained one of the singer’s most beloved releases. The album sold over 479,000 copies and spent three weeks at number one within the UK charts.
Closing off the top 5 is Happy Together by Andre Rieu and Johann Strauss Or. The album was released in November 2021 by the celebrated Dutch violinist and conductor Rieu with The Johann Strauss Orchestra. The famed orchestra was founded by Rieu in 1987 and began with a small group of twelve musicians. Since its formation, the orchestra has grown to become one of music’s most popular classical acts.
This year also marks the 10th anniversary of the Official Charts number one single award. The accolade was founded in 2011 with the intention to celebrate an artist’s incredible chart success. The award’s first recipient was the 2011 single “Wherever You Are” by The Military Wives and Gareth Malone. Since its founding year, the award has become a symbol of victory within the UK chart and has evolved to include various levels of prizes. Throughout the decade the award has celebrated great music and has been bestowed to many different artists from many different genres.
