Music

Morgan Wallen, Olivia Rodrigo, Adele topped U.S. music sales in 2021

By Wade Sheridan   |   Jan. 6, 2022 at 11:57 AM
Morgan Wallen, Olivia Rodrigo, Adele, Drake and Taylor Swift topped music sales in the U.S. for 2021. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI Olivia Rodrigo performs on stage during the iHeartRadio Music Festival Daytime Concerts in September 2021. File Photo by James Atoa/UPI Adele appears backstage with her award for Album Of The Year and Best Pop Vocal Album in February 2017. File Photo by Christine Chew/UPI Drake appears backstage during the 2019 Billboard Music Awards in May 2019. File Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI Taylor Swift arrives on the red carpet at the world premiere of "Cats" in December 2019. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI

Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Morgan Wallen, Olivia Rodrigo, Adele, Drake, Taylor Swift and more dominated U.S. music sales for 2021, according to MRC Data's year-end report.

Wallen's Dangerous: The Double Album was the top album of 2021 by total equivalent album units earned by reaching 3.226 million units.

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The list combines digital and physical sales along with the equivalent value of songs that were streamed and sold.

Rodrigo's Sour came in second place followed by Drake's Certified Lover Boy, Adele's 30, Pop Smoke's Shoot for the Stars Aim for the Moon, Doja Cat's Planet Her, The Kid LAROI's [Expletive] Love, Justin Bieber's Justice, Dua Lipa's Future Nostalgia and The Weeknd's After Hours.

For traditional sales that don't take in account streaming numbers, Adele's 30 reached the top spot with 1.464 million units followed by Swift's Red (Taylor's Version), Rodrigo's Sour, Swift's Evermore, Swift's Fearless (Taylor's Version), Billie Eilish's Happier Than Ever, Harry Styles' Fine Line, Swift's Folklore, Carrie Underwood's My Savior and Wallen's Dangerous: The Double Album.

Overall consumption of music grew 11.3% in 2021 MRC Data said, due in part to growth in streaming and vinyl sales.