Adele has been officially named as the best-selling artist worldwide in 2015, after smashing chart records to smithereens by releasing her third album 25.
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) announced that the 27-year-old British singer was the highest selling musical act based on worldwide sales of music recordings in the whole of 2015, despite not releasing 25 until November.
The figure can partially be explained by Adele’s refusal to put the new record on streaming sites such as Spotify or Apple Music, a rare move that can only realistically be negotiated by the very biggest artists.
However, her figures were also driven by “Hello”, the trailing lead single for 25 which came out at the end of October and which hit number one in more than 30 countries around the world.
Frances Moore, the CEO of the IFPI, issued a statement describing Adele as the “runaway global sensation of 2015” adding that the achievement was “simply phenomenal”.