Grammy Awards Help Adele’s ’21’ Hit 20th Week At No. 1

Thanks to a Grammy Awards-fueled gain, Adele’s 21 album beats out Van Halen’s new A Different Kind of Truth for the No. 1 slot on the Billboard 200.

Adele’s 21 sold 237,000 in the week that ended on Feb. 12 (the day of the Grammys) — posting a gain of 95%. Van Halen‘s A Different Kind of Truth arrives in the No. 2 position with 187,000. Adele won six Grammy trophies at the Sunday night ceremony — including album, record and song of the year — and performed on the broadcast. It was her first stage performance since undergoing throat surgery last year.

With 20 weeks at No. 1, it marks the longest run at the top of the chart since the soundtrack to The Bodyguard spent 20 weeks at No. 1 in 1992-1993. It’s quite likely 21 will easily net a 21st frame atop the tally next week, once a full week of Grammy impact is felt.     

Adele is also found at No. 9 with her debut set, 19, selling 36,000 (up 103%). It’s the first time an act has had two albums in the top 10 since March 19, 2011, when Justin Bieber occupied the Nos. 4 and 8 slots with Never Say Never: The Remixes (EP) and My World 2.0, respectively.

Van Halen‘s set is the band’s 14th consecutive top 10 album — stretching back to 1979’s Van Halen II, which topped out at No. 6. The only release in the veteran act’s catalog that missed the top 10 was its self-titled 1978 debut, which peaked at No. 19. The group’s last studio record, 1998’s Van Halen 3 (with Gary Cherone on lead vocals), debuted and peaked at No. 4 with 191,000 in its first week.

The Now 41 compilation bows at No. 3 with 142,000 while the Fray’s Scars & Stories enters at No. 4 with 87,000. The latter’s previous set, its self-titled 2009 effort, started at No. 1 with 179,000.     

Paul McCartney, who filled two performance slots on the Grammy Awards, lands at No. 5 with Kisses on the Bottom selling 74,000 in its first week. It is the icon’s 18th top 10 album, including his Wings work (but not his Beatles‘ releases).

The late Whitney Houston’s Whitney: The Greatest Hits, re-enters at No. 6 with 64,000 (up a whopping 10,419%). It’s one of six total albums for Houston on the chart. Her next-largest seller was her 1986 debut, Whitney Houston, which re-enters at No. 72 with 8,000 (up 3,901%).

Dierks Bentley’s Home debuts at No. 7 with 55,000, the country star’s sixth straight top 10 set. It follows Up on the Ridge, which debuted and peaked at No. 9 with 39,000 on the June 26, 2010, chart. Rounding out the top 10 this week is the 2012 Grammy Nominees compilation (down four to No. 8 with 51,000; up 50%) and Drake’s Take Care, which slides 6-10 with 32,000 (up 9%).  

Over on the Digital Songs chart, fun.’s “We Are Young” (featuring Janelle Monae) makes a splash, rising from No. 22 to No. 1 with 296,000 downloads sold (up 338%). The tune was used in a stunt-filled Chevrolet Super Bowl (Feb. 5) commercial touting its 2012 Sonic.

Fun.’s ascent to the top pushes Kelly Clarkson’s “Stronger (What Doesn’t Kill You)” down a slot to No. 2, despite a sales gain. It sold 260,000 and was up by 10%.

Houston’s “I Will Always Love You” debuts at No. 3 with 195,000 (up 6,724%) in the wake of her passing. It’s a debut on the chart — rather than a re-entry — as the Digital Songs list didn’t exist in 1992 when the song was first released.
 

Adele‘s “Set Fire to the Rain” is forced backwards — falling 2-4 — though it increases in sales: 187,000 (up 14%). Clearly thanks to her Grammy buzz, she has two more songs in the top 10: “Someone Like You” rallies 23-9 with 128,000 (up 91%), and “Rolling in the Deep” (which she performed) zooms 39-10 (126,000; up 174%). It’s the first time a lead act has had three songs concurrently in the top 10 since the July 25, 2009, chart, when Michael Jackson posthumously was at Nos. 2, 8 and 9 with “Man in the Mirror,” “Billie Jean” and “Thriller,” respectively.       

LMFAO’s “Sexy and I Know It” rises 9-5 with 170,000 (up 53%) while Madonna’s “Give Me All Your Luvin'” (featuring Nicki Minaj & M.I.A.) rises 7-6 with 165,000 (up 44%) in its first full week of availablility. Tyga’s “Rack City” slips 4-7 (139,000; up less than 1%), and David Guetta’s “Turn Me On” (featuring Minaj) drops 3-8 (139,000; down 6%).

Overall album sales in this past chart week (ending Feb. 12) totaled 6.8 million units, up 17% compared with the sum last week (5.8 million) and up 6% compared with the comparable sales week of 2011 (6.4 million). Year-to-date album sales stand at 34 million, up 4% compared with the same total at this point last year (32.8 million).

Digital track sales this past week totaled 28.9 million downloads, up 10% compared with last week (26.4 million) and up 8% stacked next to the comparable week of 2011 (26.8 million). Year-to-date track sales are at 170.5 million, up 7% compared with the same total at this point last year (159.7 million).

Next week’s Billboard 200 competes with the same week in 2011 when: Bieber’s Never Say Never: The Remixes (EP) debuted at No. 1 with 165,000 while Mumford & Sons’ Sigh No More held firm for a second week at No. 2 with 133,000 (up 169%). The previous week’s leader, the Now 37 compilation, fell to No. 3 with 95,000 (down 37%).