Adele’s long-awaited comeback single continues to shatter records.
After setting a new high for views in the first 24 hours on Vevo, the top music platform, “Hello” has topped 100 million views in five days – displacing Miley Cyrus’ “Wrecking Ball,” which crossed the mark in six.
Those numbers also make it the second fastest growing music video on YouTube. Only Psy’s “Gentleman” (which wasn’t initially available on Vevo) has garnered 100 million views quicker, doing so in four days.
On Monday, Vevo announced “Hello” had beaten Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” in total views for a video within its first 24 hours.
Not surprisingly, Billboard also revealed that “Hello” is set to debut at the No. 1 position on its Hot 100 list next week. Only 23 songs have managed that feat previously, including Celine Dion’s “My Heart Will Go On,” Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” and Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off”.
Breaking more records
More records may be on the horizon for “Hello” as well. Experts say the song is on track for 900,000 downloads in its first week – which will easily surpass the previous high mark, FloRida’s “Right Round,” which sold 636,000 copies over seven days. (Adele will continue to stoke the fires for her comeback with a one-night only concert at New York’s Radio City Music Hall on Nov. 17. NBC will broadcast the performance on Dec. 14 at 10pm.)
And when 25, the album featuring “Hello,” hits store shelves on Nov. 20, it could very likely establish Adele as the female artist with the biggest debut week of the modern era (since 1991). Currently, Britney Spears holds the record as Oops!…I Did It Again sold 1.32 million albums in May 2000.
A consistent star
Like Swift, Beyonce and Katy Perry, Adele is one of the few consistent moneymakers the music industry has. Her last effort, 21, sold 11.2 million copies in the U.S., according to Nielsen Music. It is the tenth-largest selling album since the organization started tracking music sales in 1991 and generated five hit singles.
While it will be hard for 25 to match those numbers in a world where music streaming services like Spotify and iHeartRadio have become the de facto way for many people to listen to music, the achievements of “Hello” show the pent up demand there has been for new music by the performer.
Just as the music landscape has changed, so has Adele. She has become a mother since her last album and in an open letter to fans on Facebook, she talked about other transitions of age.
“25 is about getting to know who I’ve become without realising,” she said of the album. “And I’m sorry it took so long, but you know, life happened.”
