We”re going ahead and proclaiming it now: Adele”s “21” will take home the Grammy for album of the year next February. In the meantime, the British singer”s sophomore set shows no sign of slowing down. The album has sold 2 million copies in the U.S. already since its February release. That”s a staggering accomplishment given that she”s still only on the first single from the project, “Rolling in the Deep,” which is also at No. 1 on the singles chart.
1) Adele (No. 1) : “21” logs its 8th week at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, the longest residency at the top of the chart since 2009. Total worldwide sales so far? A staggering 7 million. Too bad a certain Momma Monster will end her reign week after next, but we”ll see if “21” can bounce back to the top again.
2) Lady Gaga (not ranked): She hits 10 million Twitter followers, while her third single “The Edge of Glory” bounds onto the Billboard Hot 100 at No. 3. “Judas” who?
3) Austin City Limits Festival (not ranked): Within hours of tickets going on sale, the Sept. 16-18 multi-artist festival nears a sellout. Given the strength of the line-up, one of the strongest in its 10 years, we”re not surprised.
4) Apple (not ranked): Steve Jobs” company reportedly reaches a licensing agreement with Sony, following deals with Warner an EMI, for its forthcoming music cloud service. How sky high will it go?
5) Justin Bieber (not ranked): His entire catalog–all four albums-see major sales increases following the release of “Never Say Never” on DVD, which comes in at the top of Billboard”s DVD chart. Bieber fever lives.
6) Carrie Underwood (not ranked): Country superstar surpasses Kelly Clarkson as “American Idol”s” most successful alumnus. Total sales so far: 12.3 million albums and 18.5 million digital tracks. Even Simon Cowell would have something positive to say about that.
7) Oprah Winfrey (not ranked): As the Queen of All Media ends her 25-year reign, we salute the fact that a performance on her show moved the needle like no other TV outlet. Small wonder that Madonna, Beyonce, Usher, Aretha Franklin, Rascal Flatts, Stevie Wonder, Queen Latifah, Josh Groban, and John Legend all showed up to salute her on her final shows, which air May 23-25.
8) Chris Brown (not ranked): Either people don”t care about his reprobate ways or they are able to separate them from his music, regardless, Brown leads all contenders for the BET Awards with six nominations.
9) Rock Star Memoirs (not ranked): Keith Richards, Sammy Hagar and Steven Tyler all reached the New York Times” Bestsellers List with their memoirs this year. Additionally, The Who”s Pete Townshend and Gregg Allman announce plans for their tomes this week. Sex and drugs and rock and roll and…viagra, please.