“I don’t want to get my hopes up,” the singer Adele said in 2015 – just ahead of the release of her latest album, 25. “You can’t make assumptions. This new one could sell 100,000.”
She need not have worried. Her third studio album has outsold any other in the UK for the second year running, it was announced on Friday.
More than 13 months after its release, 25 has passed the 3 million sales mark in Britain, giving it a place on the Official Charts Company’s 30 bestselling UK albums of all time. The album has also sold more than 10 million copies in the US.
Coldplay’s A Head Full of Dreams, which was also released last year, was the year’s second bestseller. The group’s seventh LP reached number one in February – achieving the same lofty chart heights as its six predecessors, which date back to Parachutes in 2000.
After claiming this year’s Christmas No 1, Michael Ball and Alfie Boe’s duets collection was named third most successful of the year, followed by Justin Bieber’s Purpose in fourth and Elvis Presley’s posthumous collaboration with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, The Wonder Of You, fifth.
Released days before his death in January, David Bowie’s 25th and final album, Blackstar, was the sixth biggest of the year, selling 410,000 copies.
The bestselling single of the year was One Dance by Drake, featuring vocalists Wizkid and Kyla. The Canadian artist’s first number one racked up sales of just under 2 million and was the most streamed song of the year.
Second was Lukas Graham’s 7 Years, which was also the most purchased track of the year and spent five weeks at number one.
Sia’s Cheap Thrills was the third biggest song, followed by Mike Posner’s comeback track I Took a Pill in Ibiza, with the Calvin Harris and Rihanna collaboration, This is What You Came For, in fifth.
The rest of the 2016 top 10 was made up of Lush Life by Zara Larsson, Closer by The Chainsmokers featuring Halsey in seventh spot, Justin Bieber’s Love Yourself at eight, Work by Rihanna featuring Drake, and Can’t Stop The Feeling by Justin Timberlake in the 10th spot.
Clean Bandit’s Rockabye – the Christmas number one after spending seven weeks at the summit of the singles chart – missed out on the year’s top 10 list.
