Just in case you were in any doubt over just how successful, talented, adored and, indeed, rich Adele was, the news broke today that the British singer has now sold 10 million copies of her second album, 21. Cue lots of pictures of her clutching her Brits statuettes and an armful of Grammy gongs...

She’s reached this incredible milestone less than two years since the album was released and 21 now has the honour of being the UK’s fifth biggest-selling album of all time, meaning that the album is now officially more popular than Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, Brothers In Arms by Dire Straits as well as the Michael Jackson albums Bad and Thriller. That’s no mean feat for the singer, who’s now 24 and has just recently given birth to her first child. This news means that Adele is the third artist to have clocked up sales of 10 million from one album this year. Linkin Park’s Hybrid Theory (2000) and Usher’s Confessions (2004) have also crossed that milestone though obviously Adele’s ascent was a far swifter one and all the more impressive for that.

Adding to this impressive list of accolades, 21 is also the most downloaded album in history. Since she gathered up that armful of Grammy awards at the start of the year, it has seemed that Adele’s second album shows no signs of abating, its associated success stories just keep on rolling in. Congratulations once more, Adele!