Adele’s ‘21’ is one of the largest and most influential eras in music history. a thread

Rolling in the deep, released in late November 2010, is highly acclaimed by music critics and slowly climbs the charts.

It will soon become the largest crossover hit of the last 25 years.

It is the beginning of a cultural shift.

21 is released in late january. It is the largest UK-US crossover hit since the Beatles and will spend 23 and 24 weeks at #1 in both countries respectively.

It will become the longest running #1 album by a woman in UK and US history.

21 is the best selling album in the world each week for 40 weeks.

It is the best selling digital album in world history.

21 and it’s ‘All Time’ rank in different countries (pure albums sold)

Ireland – #2
Canada – #3
UK – #4
Australia – #6
New Zealand – #9
France – #23
Germany – #26
US – #39

21 is #1 in each of these countries this century.

[1/2] But to sit here and talk only about records is to misunderstand Adele.

21 is of the most influential because of how different her sound was and how it changed what was considered popular music.

[2/2] “Someone Like You" was Adele's follow-up single.

It became the first vocal-and-piano ballad ever in the Nielsen Soundscan era to go #1

It's difficult to imagine "When I Was Your Man" or "Stay" thriving in a pre-Adele era; they'd be deep cuts on an album. [From Insider]

Adele is the first woman to place 3 singles in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

Adele gives iconic performance at the Royal Albert Hall. She receives a star on the walk of fame, making her the youngest to achieve this honour.

She joins legends like Queen Victoria and Sir. Winston Churchill

The DVD is the best selling of the year

The DVD peaked at #1 in 15 countries and has 10 diamond and 23 platinum certifications across the world.

The DVD logged its 28th week on the US music DVD charts, setting record for the longest-running #1 music video by a female artist.

Her performance of someone like you at the Brits is the most viewed award show performance ever on YouTube (in english) with 190M views.

She will sweep the award show the following year, collecting 4 awards, including Artist and Album of the year.

She covers Vogue, The Rolling Stone and Cosmopolitan.

Adele opens the Grammys with ‘Rolling in the deep,’ one of her most iconic performances.

She sweeps the show collecting 6 trophies the night, the most of any female ever. (tied with beyoncé)

21 is the most grammy awarded album by a woman ever (7).

Following the Grammys, 21 re-tops charts across the world, selling 700K pure sales that week, a record high for 21. It spends an additional 4 weeks at #1. (20 weeks in 2011)

21 spends 63 weeks in the top 3 of the Billboard 200 chart, and 84 weeks in the top 10. It will become Billboard’s #1 album of all time and the longest running album on the chart by a woman (470 weeks).

21 surpasses Michael Jackson’s thriller in the UK and is the 4th best selling studio album in UK history.

It is also the second best selling studio album by a woman in US history.

Adele sweeps the BBMAs collecting 12 trophies, the most by any artist.

She will return the next year and collect Artist of the Year and Album of the Year, joining Michael Jackson as the only artist to win the accolades for 2 consecutive years.

RITD, SLY and SFTTR are all eligible for RIAA diamond

It is the most certified album in world history with 24 diamond certifications.

Since then, 21 has sold 45 million units (30M pure) across the world and has over 2.4 BILLION spotify streams.

Adele will be awarded an MBE in 2013 for services to music by the Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace.