Adele has always had numbers in her favor. The British phenomenon of song and songwriting has titled each of her albums with the number of years in her incredibly creative life, and each one set record-breaking numbers of its own, and marked the growing maturity and goals of the artist. The latest, “25,” garnered her 2017 Grammys for album and record of the year, even with her salute to Beyoncé. It's the middle collection, “21,” however, that is still proving that it has an enormous head of steam in staying on the charts.
Surpassing Carole King
Carole King added soulful artistry to her up-tempo pop and R&B identity with her 1971 landmark album, “Tapestry,” that has a place in virtually every baby boomer’s musical library.
The album set King apart from almost anyone in the female songwriting world of her time, and besides making every female feel like a “natural woman,” as she portrayed on the cover, it set a remarkable standard. “Tapestry” stayed on the Billboard charts 318 weeks, non-consecutively, in the 200. Adele’s “21” has just completed its 319th week, consecutively on the chart, according to latest Billboard reports.
There's nothing to cry about for Carole King, only a brief interruption in her chart stay with “Tapestry,” which bid a brief farewell in 1977, after 302 weeks, only to reappear in 2010, spurred on by the reunion performances of King with long time friend and song partner, James Taylor, for a Run of Shows at the Troubadour and beyond.
Three years later, the musical based on King's life, “Beautiful,” would make its debut, and go on to win Tony awards, along with furthering her artistic legacy.
More than numbers, it baffles the imagination to realize that the span spent on the charts by “21” since its 2011 release is six years, over 73 months, and 2,223 days.
That period is long enough to raise a child from birth to first grade, a child that would be double the age of Adele’s son, Angelo.
Never a farewell to the music
Despite the shattering female success of Adele, the highest chart records are all held by male-led bands, Pink Floyd with 927 weeks, Johnny Mathis with his 1958 “Greatest Hits” at 490, the “My Fair Lady” cast recording holding 480, and Bob Marley & The Wailers’ 1984 classic, “Legend” at 463 weeks.
Fans may be dismayed since Adele announced at her New Zealand concert some days ago that she may never tour again, but she never said her writing or singing would stop. Time only makes the heart and the music grow fonder, so 20 years from now, or maybe even 50 years on, there will probably still be an Adele album hanging out in the high numbers, on the charts.
