Adele breaks U.K. album sales record

Adele's new disc 25 has become the fastest-selling album ever in the U.K., surpassing an 18-year record held by British band Oasis.

The Rolling in the Deep singer released the follow-up to 21 on Friday (20Nov15) and it shifted 2.4 million copies in the U.S. within four days, breaking the first-week album sales record held by 'NSYNC.

She has now achieved the same feat across the Atlantic in her native U.K. - on Wednesday (25Nov15), sales of 25 had surpassed the 695,761 copy record held by Oasis' third album Be Here Now, which has been the fastest-selling album since its release in 1997.

"Adele has beaten Oasis. She was already closing in on their record (Tuesday) night but as of (Wednesday) morning she edged ahead," a source tells Britain's The Sun newspaper. "Her sales have slowed down since the weekend but she is still averaging 80,000 copies per day.

"These kind of figures are unheard of - especially considering the majority of sales have been on CD... Adele really is a phenomenon. She is single-handedly keeping the music industry alive."

Oasis stars have not commented on the news, unlike 'NSYNC members who congratulated Adele for beating the 15-year record they held in the U.S. for their 2000 album No Strings Attached.

"Records were made to be broken," JC Chasez says. "It was a flattering luxury knowing we sold more records than anyone in a week but it's also nice seeing people continue to be passionate about music in the next generations. Adele proves that emotion and art are alive and well in music today."

His bandmate Lance Bass added, "We officially say Bye Bye Bye as @Adele says Hello to the World Record of Most Albums Sold In a Single Week. Congratulations!!"

Adele kept 25 off streaming sites because she did the same for her previous albums, but she is open to making it available in the future.

"I'm certainly not one for, like, spicing things up, I'm just doing what I've always done," she said on U.S. breakfast show Today. "I've always done this, and Hello was on there (streaming sites) because it's on radio, so it's out there... So, probably (the album will be released for streaming)."