Adele’s New Album Off to a Flying Start

Adele’s “30” enjoyed the biggest opening numbers of any blockbuster album in 2021, as expected, with 839,000 album-equivalent units, according to an announcement by Billboard Sunday night.

Adele’s big premiere beats the previous mark set by Drake’s “Certifiable Lover Boy” when it bowed with 613,000 back in September. It also comes in ahead of Taylor Swift’s “Red (Taylor’s Version),” which just a week ago had the second-biggest debut of the year, with 905,000 album units, and now is bumped to the third most sizable of 2021.

The biggest part of Adele’s tally came in full-album sales, as was true of Swift’s massive debut last week. These two superstars are generally regarded as the last two who are guaranteed to sell massive amounts of physical product — CDs as well as the more in-vogue vinyl versions. “30” racked up a staggering 692,000 in actual album sales, by far the most for any release this year.