Adele: Rolling in the Numbers

LaurenDukoff/Columbia RecordsAdele and her album 21 ruled music last year, and 2012 doesn't seem to be shaping up to be any different.  Not only does she have a fourth single on the way from the disc, but the album, which has just marked its first birthday, is still #1, and its three previous singles -- #1 hits, all --  are sitting in the Billboard top 10.

Adele's first album, 19, was critically acclaimed and won her two Grammys, but its success was miniscule compared to what 21 has accomplished.  Soon after the release of 21, Adele compared it to 19 by saying, "On 19, I sounded younger and I sound really naive and childish and innocent and dumb on it, I think."  She added, "Even though a lot of people always think that it's mature and that I'm wise beyond my years, I don't at all think I was! And on this one, I know a bit more about myself."

21 has set so many records, won so many awards and sold so many copies since its release a year ago that it's hard to keep track, so the good folks at Billboard and MTV have put together lists of fun facts about Her Royal Grammy Highness and her world-beating album.  For instance:

-21 debuted at #1 on the charts exactly a year ago.  It's never been out of the top 10 since.  It hasn't been out of the top 3 since November.

-21 to date has sold 7,353,000 copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen Soundscan.  It is also America's best-selling digital album of all time.

-21 has been #1 on the Billboard album chart for 21 weeks.  Only nine other albums in history have spent 21 weeks or longer at the top.

-Both 21 and Adele's debut album, 19, are currently in the top four, marking the first time an artist has had two albums in the top four at the same time since 2004.  All three singles from the disc are currently in the top 10, making Adele the first female artist in history to pull that off.

-21 is the best-selling album of the 21st century in the UK, passing the previous record-holder, Back to Black by Amy Winehouse.  Coincidentally, Adele and Amy attended the same performing arts school, but at different times.

-21 has topped the charts in 27 different countries, including Switzerland, Sweden, Mexico, Poland and Greece, and has sold more than 17 million copies worldwide.

-In the U.S. alone, 21 has sold more copies in its one year than Katy Perry's Teenage Dream, Lady Gaga's Born This Way, Rihanna's Talk That Talk and Beyoncé's 4 combined.

-It's estimated that 2.34 percent of the U.S. population owns a copy of 21

-21 won six Grammys on February 12, tying Beyonce's record for most Grammys won by a female in a single night.  Adele now has eight Grammys total.

-Adele won Record, Album and Song of the Year at the Grammys.  Only five other acts have ever won those "Big Three" awards on the same night:  Eric Clapton, Paul Simon, Carole King, Christopher Cross and the Dixie Chicks.

-21 was honored with exactly 31 pounds, 8 ounces of Grammys.  That's the equivalent of four gallons of water.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio