Adele Discusses Pressure Of New Music As “21” Is Crowned ‘Greatest Album Of All Time’

In case you missed, Adele discussed the mounting pressure of following up her career defining second album 21 in a recent chat with with The Observer.

“Some people I’ve spoken to have said, “You’re going to sell at least half of what you sold before.” But I don’t think anything is a given. You don’t’ know.”

She said she already knew from her US promotional tour in 2011 that it was going to be a life-changing record. “[It was] almost like an out-of-body expefrience. I remember my mum asking, “What’s wrong?” I could just feel something coming.”

That “something coming” was granted Billboard’s ‘Greatest album of all time’ honor. 21 beat Michael Jackson’s Thriller, Julie Andrews and The Sound of Music soundtrack and Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the USA in their first ever poll, measuring chart success in the US since 1963. In fact 21 is this century’s highest selling album with an estimated 30 million copies sold worldwide to date.

Excluding the fact that half of 30 million is still beyond amazing, “Hello”, the first single from Adele’s new 25 album is doing more than fine, setting its own records. As of now, it is the biggest-selling number one song in three years, and has already gone platinum after only 3 weeks.