--- description: Adele's smash hit record 25 has now sold 5 million copies in the United States. title: Adele's '25' Sells 5 Million Copies in the U.S. image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd1e8d3a580fd8164/698873e8ab6d7718e06a76e8/adele-signing-autographs-dec-2015.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Adele's _25_ Sells 5 Million Copies in the U.S. ## Video: Five Things You May Not Know About Adele, The Savior Of Song [Watch (HLS stream): Five Things You May Not Know About Adele, The Savior Of Song](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ps8KQX1S.m3u8) (2:17)  _Published 2015-11-20. Adele was an aspirational singer on Myspace before becoming a worldwide phenomenon._  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 11, 2015 2:56 PM CUT  Adele is seen on November 24, 2015 in New York City. Adele is seen on November 24, 2015 in New York City.Getty Images  by [Tessa Berenson](/author/tessa-berenson/)  ## Tessa Berenson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 11, 2015 2:56 PM CUT Adele’s smash hit record _25_ has now sold 5 million copies in the U.S. At this level of sales, Adele is really only competing with herself. The last album to sell 5 million copies in one calendar year was her last album _21_ in 2011, [Billboard reports](http://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/chart-beat/6805295/adele-25-5-million-sold "undefined"). Before that, it was Usher’s _Confessions_ in 2004. It’s a rare feat for an album to sell 5 million copies even in more than a year. In terms of total sales, there have only been 11 albums released since 2005 to do it, five of which are by either Adele or Taylor Swift. Others include Carrie Underwood’s _Some Hearts_ (2005) and Josh Groban’s _Noel_ (2007)_._ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4145623/adele-25-sells-5-million-copies/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4145623/adele-25-sells-5-million-copies/"},"headline":"Adele's 25 Sells 5 Million Copies in the U.S.","datePublished":"2015-12-11T14:56:44.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:18:00.578Z","description":"It's one of only 11 albums since 2005 to hit 5 million in sales","url":"https://time.com/4145623/adele-25-sells-5-million-copies/","keywords":["celebrities","Music","Adele"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd1e8d3a580fd8164/698873e8ab6d7718e06a76e8/adele-signing-autographs-dec-2015.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tessa Berenson","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tessa-berenson/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltd1e8d3a580fd8164/698873e8ab6d7718e06a76e8/adele-signing-autographs-dec-2015.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Adele, Adele signing autographs","caption":"Adele, Adele signing autographs","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4145623/adele-25-sells-5-million-copies/","name":"Adele's 25 Sells 5 Million Copies in the U.S."}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Five Things You May Not Know About Adele, The Savior Of Song","description":"Adele was an aspirational singer on Myspace before becoming a worldwide phenomenon.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ps8KQX1S/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-11-20T19:52:54.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ps8KQX1S.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4145623/adele-25-sells-5-million-copies/","duration":"PT2M17S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4145623/adele-25-sells-5-million-copies/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```