Adele's '21' Will Never, Ever Go Away
By all rational accounts, Adele's 21, the singer's sophomore album released in January 2011, should have long faded from public consciousness. It's 2012. An album's half-life is about a week; two if you're Radiohead or a sugar-pop princess. But '21,' which recently surpassed the 10 million mark in sales, set another record, topping iTunes' best-selling albums of the year list for the second year in a row.
Taylor Swift and Mumford & Sons got the silver and bronze medals, but yes, '21' remains a behemoth and will probably be the music service's top-selling album through 2062, when it will be displaced by a Voltron-esque machine comprised of Katy Perry's daughter, the floating brain of Harry Styles and a previously lost strand of Psy's DNA found in amber and restored.
Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" topped iTunes' best-selling songs, though Fun. and Flo Rida both have two spots each in the Top 10. Here's the full list:
iTunes Top-Selling Albums of 2012:
1. Adele, 21
2. Taylor Swift, Red
3. Mumford & Sons, Babel
4. One Direction, Up All Night
5. Fun., Some Nights
6. Mumford & Sons, Sigh No More
7. The Lumineers, The Lumineers
8. John Mayer, Born and Raised
9. Maroon 5, Overexposed
10. Jason Aldean, Night Train
iTunes Top-Selling Songs of 2012:
1. Carly Rae Jepsen, “Call Me Maybe”
2. Gotye, “Somebody That I Used to Know”
3. Fun. “We Are Young”
4. Maroon 5 featuring Wiz Khalifa, “Payphone”
5. Nicki Minaj, “Starships”
6. One Direction, “What Makes You Beautiful”
7. Kelly Clarkson, “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)”
8. Fun., “Some Nights”
9. Flo Rida, “Whistle”
10. Flo Rida featuring Sia, “Wild Ones”
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