What is the biggest-selling British album of the century?

When considering the monster albums that sold in the tens of millions, one typically looks back to the 1970s and ’80s era of the blockbuster LPs. Aside from Shania Twain’s country pop behemoth Come On Over and The Bodyguard soundtrack, all of the top ten biggest-selling albums were released in an 11-year period when the music business gave Hollywood a run for its money in media and entertainment’s most lucrative venture. It’s also notable for its sole British entry, Pink Floyd’s 1973 space rock opus, The Dark Side of the Moon, in at number four with over 45 million reported sales.

The 21st century’s presence in the all-time top sellers is patchy. Ignoring The Beatles’ 1 compilation with 31m reported sales and one unkillable chart devourer we’ll reveal later, one has to shoot down to the 20m range to start seeing the 2000s onwards enter the persuasion. Eminem, Green Day, Norah Jones, Linkin Park, and Britney Spears all represent the millennium in sales records, as well as signalling America’s dominance.

Strangely, according to the Official Charts Company, British artists of the 21st century made little impact on the UK’s top 40 albums. Ed Sheeran, James Blunt, Dido, Coldplay, Leona Lewis, and Sam Smith, all enjoyed a few million sales each and currently sit in the nation’s top rankings, but only make about a third of the entries when considering multiple albums from an artist.

Taking the silver medal in the UK as well as globally of all time, Amy Winehouse’s neo soul and R&B 2006 smash Back to Black sold over 20m and paved the way for a new wave of highly personal female pop stars who conquered the charts from then on. Gripping the lists with her wounded retro sound of love and longing – helped by co-producer Mark Ronson – Winehouse’s second and final studio album before her death in 2011 stands as one of the 2000s’ definitive pop moments. Its enduring legacy ensured that the US Library of Congress selected Back to Black for preservation in its federal National Recording Registry.

So, what is the best-selling British album of the century?

As well as counting 23m sales for 2015’s 25, Brit school alumni Adele holds the distinction of releasing the biggest-selling British album of the 21st century with 21. Taking the indie XL label by surprise, Adele’s 2011 sophomore effort became a ubiquitous presence across every music channel, mainstream radio station, and instore supermarket soundtrack at the 2010s’ start, bolstered by gargantuan hits like ‘Rolling in the Deep’, ‘Someone like You’, and ‘Set Fire to the Rain’.

Crucially, 21 took no time to crack America, peaking at number one on the Billboard 200 in its first week. While critical reception was mixed, the consumer didn’t care, snapping up Adele’s album with such fervour, it’s difficult to imagine her record being topped anytime soon.

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