After rumors predicted thatAdele would sell somewhere between 3 to 4 million copies of her album 25 in the first week, the official Nielsen SoundScan numbers are in. According to Billboard, 25 sold 3.38 million copies in its first week in the United States.
25 just made Nielsen history by becoming the first album to sell more than 3 million copies in a week since it first began monitoring sales in 1991, and it’s the second album to surpass 2 million sold within the tracking week.
Earlier this week, 25 was in competition with *NSYNC’s No String Attached that sold 2.146 million units back in 2000. Many industry forecasters believed 25 was on pace to beat the group's single-week sales record. Adele’s 3.38 million copies sold of 25 means she's the new record holder.
The large sales number could be largely due to the album reportedly not being available for music streaming services right away. Regardless, Adele’s loyal fanbase allowed her to earn a second No. 1 album on the Billboard 200 chart.
