Adele's new album smashes single-week sales record

The British pop phenomenon isn't the first to accomplish the feat. Here's a look at some of the other artists who have made it into this elite club.

British star's 25 hits 3.38 million mark, 20th album to sell more than a million in 1st week

CBC News Posted: Nov 30, 2015 6:14 PM EST | Last Updated: December 2, 2015

Adele's new album 25 has sold 3.38 million copies in its first week, beating the previous record held by 'N Sync's 2000 album No Strings Attached and passing Taylor Swift's 1989 as the best-selling album of the year. (Lucy Nicholson/Retuers and L.E. Baskow/Reuters and Kathy Willens/AP)

25 is the first album to sell more than 3 million copies in a week

Adele's 25 has joined an elite club of only 20 albums that have sold at least a million copies in a single week. The British singer's new album has sold 3.38 million copies in its first week, according to Nielsen Music. It is the first album to sell more than threemillion copies in one week in Nielsen's history, which has been tracking first-week purchases since 1991.

Released by Columbia Records, 25 has officially broken the single-week U.S. album sales record. Adele's previous album, 21 has sold 11.24 million copies in the U.S. (Columbia Records via AP)

Adele performs on NBC's Today Show on Nov. 25 to promote 25. (Heidi Gutman/NBC via AP)

Taylor Swift and 'N Syncleftin the dust

Adele's 25 is already the best-selling album of the year, soaring past the 1.8 million copies sold of Taylor Swift's 1989. But Swift probably doesn't feel too bad, since her albums Speak Nowand Redalsosoldmore thana million copies in a singleweek, making herthe only artist with threealbums in the eliteclub.

Taylor Swift poses with several awards for her album 1989 at the Billboard Music Awards in May 2015. (L.E. Baskow/Reuters)

The previous record for single-week album sales in the United Stateswas held by 'N Sync, whose 2000 album No StringsAttached sold 2.4 million copies in its first week.'N Syncwas one of the most popular boy bands in the world, selling millions of albums and dominating the music scene in the '90s and 2000s with other groups including the Backstreet Boys.

Members of 'N Sync, from left, JC Chasez, Lance Bass, Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick and Justin Timberlake. (Kathy Willens/AP)

Other pop stars who havesold more than a million copies in a week

The Backstreet Boys were on top of the world near the end of the 20th century when their album Millennium sold more than 1.1 million copies in its first week in May1999.

Backstreet Boys (from left) Howie Dorough, Kevin Richardson, A. J. McLean, Nick Carter and Brian Littrell touch their star after it was unveiled on the Walk of Fame in Los Angeles in April, 2013. (Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

Lady Gaga sold more than 1.1 million copies of her album Born This Way in May, 2011. (Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty)

Norah Jones during a performance at the White House in May 2014. Her 2004 album Feels Like Home sold more than a million copies in its first week. (Nicholas Kamm/AFP/Getty)

Oops!... I did it again,BritneySpears's 2000 album,sold more than 1.3 million copies in its debut week.

Britney Spears sold more than 1.3 million copies of her album Oops!I Did It Again in May 2000. (Danny Moloshok/Reuters)

Usher's 2004 album Confessions sold more than a million copies in its debut week. (Gus Ruelas/Reuters )

Rappers in the single-weeksales club

Eminem, 50 Cent and Lil Wayne all have albums with sales of more than amillion copies in a single week.

Eminem and Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson attend the premiere of Southpaw in New York, July 2015. Eminem sold more than 1.3 million copies of The Eminem Show in May, 2000, while 50 Cent's album The Massacre sold more than 1.1 million copies in its first week in 2005. (Andrew Kelly/Reuters)

Lil Wayne performs a medley during the BET Awards in Los Angeles in June, 2014. His album Tha Carter III sold just over a million copies in a single week in 2008. (Mario Anzuoni/Reuters)

Although they're not really considered part of the rap scene, rap-rockers Limp Bizkit may be one of the more surprising names on this list. Their third album, Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water, sold more than amillion copies in October2000.

Limp Bizkit, (from left) Sam Rivers, DJ Lethal, Jon Otto, Wes Borland and Fred Durst pictured at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles in February 2000, (REUTERS)

The first artists to officially sell more than a million albums in a week

The soundtrack for the movie The Bodyguard, featuring Whitney Houston's iconic song I Will Always Love You, was the first album to officially accomplish the feat, selling more than a million copies in a singleweek in January1993.

Whitney Houston performs in Shanghai in July, 2004. (China Photos/Reuters )

Garth Brooks's 1998 Double Live album was the first album to officially debut with more than amillion copies sold in its first week.

Garth Brooks performs in New York, Nov. 2014. (Lucas Jackson/Reuters )

The Beatles album 1 hit the million mark in its sixth week on the charts in December2000. Although the Fab Five didn't officially manage this feat until 2000, they smashed all kinds of records of their own during the heyday of Beatlemania in the 1960s, boasting several of the most critically acclaimed and best-selling albums of all time.

The Beatles (from left) Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Ringo Starr and John Lennon arrive in London after a trip to Paris in February 1964. (Evening Standard/Getty)

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