Will Adele’s 25 Set a One-Week Sales Record?

How many copies will Adele’s 25 sell in its first week? Place your bets.

Given the craziness surrounding “Hello,” the first single, and the pent-up demand for a new album, the first week numbers being proposed are unusually optimistic for this era of declining retail numbers. Estimates run between 1.3 million and 1.8 million for America alone.

Here are a few US figures to keep in mind.

1.055 million: Believe it or not, Limp Bizkit sold that many copies in one week of Chocolate Starfish and the Hotdog Flavoured Water in October 200.

1.12 million: 2011 was the year of Lady Gaga. Born This Way got off to a great start that May.

1.29 million: The number of copies of 1989 sold by Taylor Swift in its first week when it came out last November.

1.32 million: Copies sold of Britney Spears’ Oops…I Did It Again in its first week in May 2000. That’s the record for first-week sales by a female performer.

1.59 million: Remember Backstreet Boys mania? It was 15 years ago this month that they sold this many records of their Black & Blue album.

1.76 million: The Marshal Mathers LP killed it for Eminem in May 2000.

1.88 million: The one-week total of N Sync’s Celebrity album in July 2001.

2.416 million: The all-time one-week sales record is held by N Sync and No Strings Attached in March 2001.