Surprise! Adele was the most popular artist of 2015

February 8, 2016

Adele has been named by IFPI as the most popular recording artist across the globe in 2015.

Obviously, Adele was always going to be the favourite here: her record-breaking third album, 25, sold 7.4m copies in the US alone in just six weeks at the end of 2015.

To date, it has notched up worldwide sales in excess of 15 million.

The lead single from 25, Hello, was a number one in more than 30 countries worldwide, including the US, Germany, France, Italy, Australia and the UK.

IFPI chief executive Frances Moore said: “I’m delighted to be able to honour Adele as the most popular global recording artist of 2015.

“Her album 25 has been the runaway global sensation of the year, breaking records across the world and reaching a vast audience of fans.

“All of the artists in our top 10 chart have achieved incredible success – and Adele’s achievement is simply phenomenal.”

Recipients in 2013 and 2014, respectively, were One Direction and Taylor Swift.

The IFPI‘s independently verified Global Recording Artist 2015 chart includes sales of albums – across digital, CD and vinyl formats; singles, both downloaded and physical; on-demand audio streams and music videos across the calendar year.

The chart includes all the music of each artist featured, not just one track or album.

It uses track and album equivalents to combine measurements of downloads, physical sales and streams.