6. After reaching # 1 on the Billboard 200 for 24 weeks, Adele dropped out Whitney Houston‘s record for the longest running No. 1 solo artist album in US history (The Bodyguard Soundtrack released after 21 weeks). The run at the top made 21 the longest running number 1 in the modern Nielsen SoundScan era that began 30 years ago.

7. 21 was the best-selling album in both the US and Canada in 2011 and 2012. It was the first album that has achieved this special achievement since then Michael JacksonThriller 1983 and 1984.

8. In December 2011, Billboard was named Adele Artist of the Year, 21 was named Billboard 200 Album of the Year, and “Rolling in the Deep” was named Billboard Hot 100 Song of the Year. This made her the first woman to ever reach the top of all three categories at the same time. Thanks to continued sales of the album, she was also named Artist of the Year and Album of the Year in 2012. This made her the first artist to win both in a row.

9. At the 2012 Grammys, she won all six categories in which she was nominated, including Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Song of the Year. This made her the second artist in history, after Beyoncé, to win so many awards in one night. Along with her previous win as Best New Artist, she was the first female and second artist to win all four general field awards in her career Christopher Crosswho won them all at once in 1980. (Billie Eilish would of course be the first woman to sweep all four at once in 2020.)

10. When the Recording Industry Association of America awarded 21 Diamond Certification for more than 10 million copies sold in November 2012, Adele was the only artist or band in a decade to make a single disc in that short time -Album earned. She would of course break her own record if 25, released in 2015, did so in less than a year.