The highest-selling albums and EPs in the United States are ranked in the Billboard 200 chart, which is published by Billboard magazine. The data are compiled by Nielsen Soundscan based on each album's weekly physical and digital sales. In 2011, 30 albums advanced to the peak position of the chart.

Singer-songwriter Taylor Swift's Speak Now was the first album to reach the top in 2011, spending four consecutive weeks at the top with 259,000 copies sold, while Michael Bublé's Christmas was the last album to do so, also spending four consecutive weeks there and selling 448,000 copies. The most successful album of the year was Adele's 21, which spent 13 non-consecutive weeks at number one, and sold 5 million copies. The Billboard magazine mentioned 21 as the highest-selling album in the year since 2004, when Usher's Confessions reached sales of 8 million copies. Lady Gaga's Born This Way held the record for the highest first-week total in 2011, with 1,108,000 copies sold in its first week. Lil Wayne's Tha Carter IV had the second-highest first-week total in 2011, with 964,000 copies.

Chart history

+KeyIndicates best performing album of 2011

Issue date Album Artist(s) Sales Speak Now259,000 276,000 77,000 52,000 Showroom of CompassionCake44,000 The King Is DeadThe Decemberists94,000 Mission Bell40,000 Pink Friday45,000 Now 37Various Artists151,000 Never Say Never – The Remixes165,000 21 Adele352,000 168,000 Lasers204,000 21 Adele98,000 F.A.M.E.270,000 Femme Fatale276,000 21 Adele88,000 Wasting LightFoo Fighters235,000 21 Adele153,000 124,000 155,000 156,000 137,000 Born This WayLady Gaga1,108,000 174,000 21 Adele114,000 Hell: The SequelBad Meets Evil171,000 The Light of the Sun135,000 4Beyoncé310,000 115,000 Red River Blue116,000 21 Adele77,000 Chief145,000 21 Adele76,000 Watch the ThroneJay-Z and Kanye West436,000 177,000 The R.E.D. AlbumGame98,000 Tha Carter IVLil Wayne964,000 219,000 Own the NightLady Antebellum347,000 Duets II179,000 Cole World: The Sideline Story218,000 Clear as Day197,000 EvanescenceEvanescence127,000 21 Adele106,000 Mylo XylotoColdplay447,000 Under the MistletoeJustin Bieber210,000 Blue Slide Park144,000 Take CareDrake631,000 Christmas227,000 293,000 479,000 448,000

See also 2011 in music List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 2011 (U.S.)

References