Adele’s “21” just set a 21st-century record: By topping the Billboard/SoundScan sales chart for a 12th non-consecutive week, it’s logged more time at No. 1 than any other album to come out since the turn of the millennium.
The last disc to spend that much time at No. 1 was Santana’s “Supernatural,” which split its dozen chart-topping weeks between the end of 1999 and the beginning of 2000. The Santana album eventually went 15-times platinum, and Adele, like any other contemporary artist, doesn’t have much hope of matching those boom-era figures. But with 2.9 million sold in a little under six months, “21” has certainly left the rest of the 2010 competition numerically challenged.
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Adele’s album moved 76,000 units in this sales frame, which marked a modest decrease for her. But it was still well ahead of No. 2 Eric Church, whose “Chief” was the chart’s surprise commander last week but took a tumble to 53,000 copies this time.
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The biggest chart entry belonged to big man Trace Adkins, with “Proud to Be Here” bowing at No. 3 with sales of 47,000 – close to on par with what the prolific country star’s previous effort debuted with just last year.
The number 4 was lucky for someone this week, and it wasn’t Beyonce. Mat Kearney entered at No. 4 on sales of 44,000 for, yes, his fourth album, “Young Love” — not bad for a Nashville Christian rocker turned adult-pop artist whose previous two efforts never cracked the top 10.
Television was the driving force in the other pair of top 10 debuts. The Victoria Justice-fronted dance-pop soundtrack to Nickelodeon’s tween favorite, “Victorious,” came in at No. 5 with 41,000 copies. “Slow Grind,” a heavily TV-advertised R&B compilation, grinded its way to No. 9 with 39,000.
On the digital songs chart, LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem” was once again unstoppable, selling 185,000. Katy Perry’s “Last Friday Night (TGIF)” fell to No. 5 in sales, pretty much scotching the song’s chances of hitting No. 1 on the forthcoming Hot 100, where she had a shot at breaking an old Michael Jackson record.
With no new entries in the digital top 10, the only serious action was a big boost to No. 3 for “Moves Like Jagger,” the collaboration between Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera, which benefitted from a couple of major network appearances. The song, which sold 159,000, could do even better next week, with its heavily hyped official video having been released since the close of this last sales frame.
Adele can watch her throne all she wants, but she won’t likely log her 13th week at No. 1 any time soon. The Jay-Z/Kanye West collaboration, “Watch the Throne,” was released on iTunes Monday and reaches retail outlets Friday, and that hookup should leave Adele breathing some hip-hop superstar dust for a while to come.