Adele's '21' best selling album for second straight year

Adele's Grammy-winning "21" continues to dominate the U.S. album sales chart as it sells the most copies in both 2011 and 2012, according to Nielsen SoundScan. "21" is the first best selling album in back to back years since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991, and the first since Michael Jackson's "Thriller" was the best seller in 1983 and 1984. The album sold 4.41 million albums in 2012 and 5.82 million in 2011, making its total U.S. sales more than 10 million.

Taylor Swift's "Red", released only in October, is the second best selling album of the year. Swift is the only non-British artist in the top 5, which includes two albums from the British boy band One Direction, and Mumford & Sons "Babel." "Babel" is the only rock album on a list that includes 5 country records.

Adele - Someone Like YouAdele - Someone Like You

The best selling albums of 2012 are:

1. Adele - "21" (4.41 million)
2. Taylor Swift - "Red" (3.11 million)
3. One Direction - "Up All Night" (1.62 million)
4. Mumford & Sons - "Babel" (1.42 million)
5. One Direction - "Take Me Home" (1.34 million)
6. Justin Bieber - "Believe" (1.34 million)
7. Carrie Underwood - "Blown Away" (1.20 million)
8. Luke Bryan - "Tailgates & Tanlines" (1.10 million)
9. Lionel Richie - "Tuskegee" (1.07 million)
10. Jason Aldean - "Night Train" (1.02 million)

Nielsen SoundScan also released the top downloaded songs of 2012. They are:

1. Gotye ft. Kimbra - "Somebody That I Used to Know" (6.80 million)
2. Carly Rae Jepsen - "Call Me Maybe" (6.47 million)
3. Fun. ft. Janelle Monae - "We Are Young" (5.95 million)
4. Maroon 5 ft. Wiz Khalifa - "Payphone" (4.75 million)
5. Nicki Minaj - "Starships" (3.98 million)
6. One Direction - "What Makes You Beautiful" (3.89 million)
7. Fun. - "Some Nights" (3.84 million)
8. Kelly Clarkson - "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" (3.82 million)
9. PSY - "Gangnam Style" (3.59 million)
10. Maroon 5 - "One More Night" (3.46 million)

The English singer Adele now has the fourth biggest selling album in Britain, surpassing Oasis' "(What's the Story) Morning Glory?," but is second in sales in Britain for the year with Emeli Sande's "Our Version of Events" holding the top spot.