British crooner Adele is still rolling in the dough from "Rolling in the Deep" and the other 10 songs from her smash hit sophomore album 21. The album's latest milestone? 10 million copies sold, which serendipitously makes 21 the 21st album to reach those rarified heights since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking album sales in 1991. But Adele still has a long climb up the charts if she plans to crack the top 10, which spans an impressive, incongruous list of artists that includes Metallica, Shania Twain, The Beatles, and N 'Sync. Which albums have sold even better than Adele's ubiquitous 21? Here, the 10 bestselling albums in Nielsen SoundScan history:
1. Metallica (Metallica, 1991) — 15.8 million
2. Come On Over (Shania Twain, 1997) — 15.5 million
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
3. Jagged Little Pill (Alanis Morisette, 1995) — 14.8 million
4. Millennium (Backstreet Boys, 1999) — 12.2 million
5. 1 (The Beatles, 2000) — 12.1 million
6. The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album (Whitney Houston, 1992) — 12 million
7. Supernatural (Santana, 1999) — 11.7 million
8. Human Clay (Creed, 1999) — 11.6 million
9. Legend (Bob Marley and the Wailers, 1984) — 11.2 million (Note: This only counts Legend sales from 1991 onward, when Nielsen began tracking album sales.)
10. No Strings Attached ('N Sync, 2000)— 11.1 million
Listen to "Rolling in the Deep," the first single from Adele's 21:
Sources: Billboard, USA Today, Rolling Stone, Vintage Vinyl News
-
8 hotels with ace tennis courtsThe Week Recommends Bring your A game
-
Abrego released from jail, faces Uganda deportationSpeed Read The wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego García is expected to be detained at an ICE check-in and deported to Uganda
-
Kyiv marks independence as Russia downplays peaceSpeed Read President Vladimir Putin has no plans to meet with Zelenskyy for peace talks pushed by President Donald Trump
