From the New York Times article: Celebrating the Girls of Summer.
And the sound of summer? It’s the voice of Adele, the British belter whose album “21” has sold at the sort of clip — 2.7 million copies and counting — more typical of the predigital, predownload era. Lady Gaga, in second place with “Born This Way,” trails her by about a million copies.
Adele’s triumph is especially sweet because it hasn’t involved any of the cartoonish or kittenish provocations that power so many other female pop stars’ careers. She’s just a robustly talented, glorious, flawed, recognizable woman. She has weight problems and makes witty note of them. “I love seeing Lady Gaga’s boobs and bum,” she told Rolling Stone. “I love seeing Katy Perry’s boobs and bum. Love it. But that’s not what my music is about. I don’t make music for eyes. I make music for ears.”
And from Billboard.biz
Billboard 200 Preview: An Even Dozen Weeks at No. 1 for Adele's '21'?
August 03, 2011
By Keith Caulfield, Los Angeles
At the rate we're going, Adele's monster "21" album might be at the top of the chart come Christmastime. The set is poised to return to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart next week for a 12th non-consecutive frame. The album, which is No. 2 this week, hasn't been absent from the top three rungs on the list since it debuted at No. 1 on the March 12 chart -- 22 weeks ago.
If "21" grabs a 12th week at No. 1, it would mark the most weeks atop the chart since Santana's "Supernatural" also racked a dozen frames at No. 1 in late 1999 and early 2000.
Industry sources project that none of yesterday's (Aug. 2) new releases pose a threat to Adele's ascension. However, Eric Church's current No. 1, "Chief," could hold on to the top slot if the week shakes out in his favor.