Adele surpasses Whitney Houston’s record for best-selling female album

Adele has overtaken Whitney Houston’s record for the best-selling female album of all time.

Adele’s 21 has sold a staggering 56,38 million copies worldwide, narrowly beating Houston’s 1992 classic soundtrack to The Bodyguard, which sold 56,37 million copies, per ChartMasters.

The album rocketed Adele to global superstardom with tracks such as Rumour Has It, Someone Like You, Rolling in the Deep, and Set Fire to the Rain, becoming fan favourites.

Dr Sheldon Leal, Musicologist and Academic Registrar at the Academy of Sound Engineering, said this was a massive achievement for Adele.

“She is one of the only artists in history to have the same album go to number one for two consecutive years (2012 and 2023). When 25 came out (2015), she was once again the number one artist of the year in which that was released and the following year.”

He notes that the title `The Bodyguard' was somewhat controversial, as it was a soundtrack with a mix of Houston’s songs and other artists' tracks.

“It wasn’t fully a Whitney Houston album, it was a movie soundtrack. Half of the album was Whitney Houston, and the other half was a compilation of other artists.”

Because of this, the Guinness World Records has Shania Twain’s Come On Over as the best-selling female album of all time, with 47.633 million units.

To listen to Leal in conversation with 702’s Gugs Mlungu, click the audio player below: