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National Album Day 2021: Adele named the UK's Official best-selling female album artist of the 21st century
Plus we reveal the UK's Official best-selling female albums of the 21st century.
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National Album Day has announced its theme for 2021 as Celebrating Women in Music.
Taking place on Saturday, October 16, the fourth edition of the day dedicated to the album format will celebrate women artists and their huge contribution to music and culture through the form of the album.
Celebrating Women in Music allows for the opportunity to revisit iconic and influential albums by women, from the very earliest pioneers to present-day legends, and point towards the exciting women artists of the future. It will also highlight the role of women within the wider music community including songwriters and producers who are often overlooked.
To coincide with the announcement, the Official Charts Company can reveal that Adele is the UK’s best-selling woman album artist since the year 2000, leading a Top 10 which also includes iconic acts like Kylie, Britney Spears and fellow Brits Amy Winehouse and Dido. Between them, the Top 10 artists have sold in excess of 72 million albums between them (including streaming equivalents).
MORE: The longest-reigning Official UK Number 1 singles by female acts
Adele also claims the Number 1 album by a woman artist of the century to date, with her 2011 album 21 which has sold just over 5 million copies in the UK alone. Her other albums, 25 and 19 also feature in the Top 10 at Number 3 and Number 9 respectively. Also taking multiple spots in the Top 10 is Dido, with No Angel (6) and Life For Rent (7), while Lady Gaga, Norah Jones and Emeli Sande also make an appearance. See the full Top 10 below.
The BPI’s Geoff Taylor and Kim Bayley of the Entertainment Retailers Association said in a joint statement, “We are delighted that National Album Day is returning for a fourth edition, again supported by our official partners Bowers & Wilkins and BBC Sounds, and with a theme that will rightly celebrate the huge contribution being made by women to music through the album format.
“The way music is made, discovered and enjoyed may be changing, but the album remains central to this process, and National Album Day allows fans and artists alike to celebrate this much loved artform and remind ourselves of its continuing power to tell a story in a way that only it can, influencing and inspiring generations along the way.”
More information, including this year's ambassadors and exclusive product, will be made throughout the year leading to the event on October 16.
The UK's Official Top 10 women album artists – 2000 to 2021
| POS | ARTIST |
| 1 | ADELE |
| 2 | P!NK |
| 3 | MADONNA |
| 4 | RIHANNA |
| 5 | DIDO |
| 6 | AMY WINEHOUSE |
| 7 | KYLIE MINOGUE |
| 8 | BEYONCE |
| 9 | BRITNEY SPEARS |
| 10 | LADY GAGA |
©2021 Official Charts Company.
The UK's Official Top 10 albums by women artists – 2000 to 2021
| POS | ALBUM | ARTIST |
| 1 | 21 | ADELE |
| 2 | BACK TO BLACK | AMY WINEHOUSE |
| 3 | 25 | ADELE |
| 4 | SPIRIT | LEONA LEWIS |
| 5 | FAME | LADY GAGA |
| 6 | NO ANGEL | DIDO |
| 7 | LIFE FOR RENT | DIDO |
| 8 | COME AWAY WITH ME | NORAH JONES |
| 9 | 19 | ADELE |
| 10 | OUR VERSION OF EVENTS | EMELI SANDE |
©2021 Official Charts Company.
Image: David Fisher/REX
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Bengy
From an OCC email,
Official Chart Update
#ChartFact
The bestselling studio album by a solo artist is Adele's 21, which has sold 5.004 million units (physical and download sales).
Another million streams to add on??
NN
Nu No
No way. It was a mistake. It's still under 5.3 million according to many credible sources. They will clear it out once her new album is out. They still put it behind Abba and The Beatles in other charts of all time so it's a big typo.
Dayv Morris
back to black is better than 21
FC
Fact Checker
On what planet is 5.25 million sales "just shy of 6 million" ?
OCC data resulted in the BPI giving Adele's 21 a 17x platinum certificate (5,100,000) in August 2018. Your own year end list for 2018 did not include it in the Top 100, which suggests it sold less than 25,000 after that certificate. Your own year end list also did not include it in 2019 and hence less than 55,000 sales. Your own year end list put it at #98 in 2020, hence about 65,000 sales. And it will have sold about 10,000 more so far this year. That adds up to 5,255,000.
Adele is a superb artist. The 21 album has been spectacularly successful. But she is done a huge disservice by such shoddy reporting from the OCC.
BebbitFaux
does anyone know how close Queen are now to 7 million by the way? that album ha done well since the film came out and must be getting close by now...
Bengy
From an on-line forum poster,
6,939,000 by 31/12/20.
BebbitFaux
Thanks! interesting....a reliable source do you think/have you got a link? at current rates it will hit 7 million this side of the summer!
Bengy
Very reliable. Search Buzzjack.
CP
Courtney Puzzo
if that stands then her label will re certify 21 in the UK and It'll be the 2nd best selling album in country history behind Queen Greatest Hits vol.1 and if no compilations or film soundtracks were counted 21 would be the best selling studio recording in UK history and between US and UK alone sold 20,000,000 copies or 65% of its worldwide total of 31,000,000 copies it first charted in the US 10 years ago this week March 12th 2011
Bengy
It is certified 17 times platinum for 5.1m UK sales by August 2018. It could not have sold nearly another 900,000 copies since then. BPI automatic certification did NOT even register 18 times platinum for 5.4m sales.
NN
Nu No
Unlike US certifications in UK are AUTOMATIC so labels don't ask for them. This means the album still didn't sold 5.4 Million including streaming.
Bengy
"Adele also claims the Number 1 album by a woman artist of the century to date, with her 2011 album 21 which has sold just shy of 6 million copies in the UK alone."
So Adele has now overtaken Beatles Pepper and Abba Gold. Hard to believe.