Adele keeps holding her first position in 2012 billboard albums


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.