Adele's inexorable 21 sold more than 144,000 copies to claim the top spot on the first Billboard albums chart of 2012, easily outpacing Drake's Take Care, which landed at #2 with sales of nearly 72,000 copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
As it approaches the one-year anniversary of its release, 21 — which was 2011's biggest seller by a huge margin — shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, with this week's numbers, it has now sold some 5.8 million copies in the U.S., making it the best-selling album since Usher's massive Confessions, which moved 7.9 million copies in 2004.
Young Jeezy's TM 103: Hustlerz Ambition holds strong at #3 on this week's chart, selling more than 67,000 copies in hts second week. Lady Antebellum's Own the Night is up next at #4 with sales of nearly 54,000 copies. And buoyed by the chart-topping success of single "Sexy and I Know It," LMFAO's Sorry for Party Rocking leaps from #16 all the way up to #5.