Adele's second studio album, 21, was the most successful and highest-selling album of 2011, spending 13 non-consecutive weeks at number one.

The highest-selling albums and EPs in the United States are ranked in the Billboard 200 chart, which is published by Billboard magazine. The data are compiled by Nielsen Soundscan based on each album's weekly physical and digital sales.[1] In 2011, 30 albums advanced to the peak position of the chart.

Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift's Speak Now was the first album to reach the top in 2011, spending four consecutive weeks at the top with 259,000 copies sold, while Michael Bublé's Christmas was the last album to do so, also spending four consecutive weeks there and selling 448,000 copies. The most successful album of the year was Adele's 21, which spent 13 non-consecutive weeks at number one, and sold 5 million copies.[2] The Billboard magazine mentioned 21 as the highest-selling album in the year since 2004, when Usher's Confessions reached sales of 8 million copies.[2] Lady Gaga's Born This Way held the record for the highest first-week total in 2011, with 1,108,000 copies sold in its first week. Lil Wayne's Tha Carter IV had the second-highest first-week total in 2011, with 964,000 copies.

Chart history

Taylor Swift's 2010 album Speak Now was the first number-one of 2011. It spent four consecutive weeks at the top.
Michael Bublé's Christmas was the last number-one album of the year, with four consecutive weeks atop the chart.
Born This Way by Lady Gaga scored the biggest sales week of 2011, opening with 1,108,000 copies sold.
Beyoncé scored her fourth number-one with 4, which topped the chart for two weeks.
Rapper Lil Wayne's Tha Carter IV sold 964,000 copies in its first week, marking the second biggest opening-week sales of 2011.
With Pink Friday, Nicki Minaj became the first female rapper since Eve in 1999 to achieve a number-one album.
Key
† Indicates best performing album of 2011
Issue date Album Artist(s) Sales Ref.
January 1 Speak Now Taylor Swift 259,000 [3][4]
January 8 276,000 [5][6]
January 15 77,000 [7][8]
January 22 52,000 [9][10]
January 29 Showroom of Compassion Cake 44,000 [11][12]
February 5 The King Is Dead The Decemberists 94,000 [13][14]
February 12 Mission Bell Amos Lee 40,000 [15][16]
February 19 Pink Friday Nicki Minaj 45,000 [17][18]
February 26 Now 37 Various Artists 151,000 [19][20]
March 5 Never Say Never – The Remixes Justin Bieber 165,000 [21][22]
March 12 21 † Adele 352,000 [23][24]
March 19 168,000 [25][26]
March 26 Lasers Lupe Fiasco 204,000 [27][28]
April 2 21 † Adele 98,000 [29][30]
April 9 F.A.M.E. Chris Brown 270,000 [31][32]
April 16 Femme Fatale Britney Spears 276,000 [33][34]
April 23 21 † Adele 88,000 [35][36]
April 30 Wasting Light Foo Fighters 235,000 [37][38]
May 7 21 † Adele 153,000 [39][40]
May 14 124,000 [41][42]
May 21 155,000 [43][44]
May 28 156,000 [45][46]
June 4 137,000 [47][48]
June 11 Born This Way Lady Gaga 1,108,000 [49][50]
June 18 174,000 [51][52]
June 25 21 † Adele 114,000 [53][54]
July 2 Hell: The Sequel Bad Meets Evil 171,000 [55][56]
July 9 The Light of the Sun Jill Scott 135,000 [57][58]
July 16 4 Beyoncé 310,000 [59][60]
July 23 115,000 [61][62]
July 30 Red River Blue Blake Shelton 116,000 [63][64]
August 6 21 † Adele 77,000 [65][66]
August 13 Chief Eric Church 145,000 [67][68]
August 20 21 † Adele 76,000 [69][70]
August 27 Watch the Throne Jay-Z and Kanye West 436,000 [71][72]
September 3 177,000 [73][74]
September 10 The R.E.D. Album Game 98,000 [75][76]
September 17 Tha Carter IV Lil Wayne 964,000 [77][78]
September 24 219,000 [79][80]
October 1 Own the Night Lady Antebellum 347,000 [81][82]
October 8 Duets II Tony Bennett 179,000 [83][84]
October 15 Cole World: The Sideline Story J. Cole 218,000 [85][86]
October 22 Clear as Day Scotty McCreery 197,000 [87][88]
October 29 Evanescence Evanescence 127,000 [89][90]
November 5 21 † Adele 106,000 [91][92]
November 12 Mylo Xyloto Coldplay 447,000 [93][94]
November 19 Under the Mistletoe Justin Bieber 210,000 [95][96]
November 26 Blue Slide Park Mac Miller 144,000 [97][98]
December 3 Take Care Drake 631,000 [99][100]
December 10 Christmas Michael Bublé 227,000 [101][102]
December 17 293,000 [103][104]
December 24 479,000 [105][106]
December 31 448,000 [107][2]

See also

References

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