In a world full of albums, only 23 have ever sold a million or more U.S. copies in a single week — and only one has ever done so more than once, much less three times total.
At least, that’s what can be gathered since Luminate began electronically counting music sales in 1991, back when the data tracking company was known under as SoundScan. Luminate’s sales, streaming and airplay measurements are what power Billboard‘s weekly charts to this day, including the foremost album ranking in the country, the Billboard 200.
But which artists are part of the elite few who’ve accomplished this elusive feat? Spoiler alert: Taylor Swift, the record-setting album sales queen herself, is featured quite heavily on this list, as are a handful of famous boy bands (and yes, that does include a certain British quartet whose record for most No. 1 albums of all time is still unbeaten more than 50 years after breaking up). Plus, look out for Whitney Houston’s contribution (hint: it’s the bestselling movie soundtrack of all time) as well the sole strictly country artist to ever push a mil in a week (another hint: he’s got friends in low places).
Only one person, however, has plowed past one million copies more than once with the same project — Adele, whose album of the year winner at the 2017 Grammys 25 will only ever be matched if another record someday sells more than a million weekly copies not just twice, but three separate times (you may not want to hold your breath on that).
With that in mind, keep reading to see all 25 times an artist has sold 1 million or more album copies in a week below.
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