Adele’s ‘Hello’ has best sales week for a single since 1997

Adele’s new single “Hello” has already smashed records, even though it was released less than two weeks ago. The song just had the best sales week for a single since 1997.

Billboard reports that “Hello” sold 1.11 million downloads during the week that ended on Oct. 29 in the U.S., based on Nielsen Music stats. This means that it is the first single to sell at least 1 million downloads in one week.

“Hello” also earned the second-best sales week for a single since 1991, when Nielsen Music started tracking sales for Billboard. The record holder is still Elton John’s “Candle In The Wind 1997”/“Something About The Way You Look Tonight” single, which sold an astonishing 3.4 million copies in its first week in October 1997. During the single’s second week, it sold 1.2 million copies.

The record held by John’s single will likely never be broken. The single was sold long before downloads, so it actually moved over 3 million physical copies in a week. It was released two months after Princess Diana’s death on Aug. 31, 1997.

"Hello" is the first single off Adele's new album, 25, which hits stores on Nov. 20.

Here’s the Top 5 list of best single sales weeks for a single, according to Billboard:

1. Elton John, “Candle In The Wind 1997”/“Something About The Way You Look Tonight” - Oct. 11, 1997 (3.4 million copies)
2. Elton John, “Candle In The Wind 1997”/“Something About The Way You Look Tonight” - Oct. 18, 1997 (1.2 million)
3. Adele, "Hello" - Nov. 14, 2015
4. Elton John, “Candle In The Wind 1997”/“Something About The Way You Look Tonight” - Oct. 25, 1997 (787,000)
5. Flo Rida, "Right Around" - Feb. 28, 2009 (636,000)