Adele is top of the charts in list of best-selling female LP artists
ADELE IS the best-selling female album artist of the century in the UK, according to the British Phonographic Institute (BPI).
The record labels association said her album, 21, was also the best-selling album by a female artist.
It sold just under six million copies in the UK.
P!nk was second in the overall female artist rankings, followed by Madonna.
Rihanna was fourth, followed by Dido in fifth and Amy Winehouse in sixth.
London-born Adele has not released an album since 2015’s 25, but she has confirmed she is working on a new record.
Hosting Saturday Night Live in October 2020, she revealed why she was only on hosting duties, with singer-songwriter HER appearing as musical guest.
She said: “My album is not finished and I’m also too scared to do both. I would rather just put on some wigs – and this is all mine by the way – have a glass of wine or six and just see what happens.”
The rankings were revealed by BPI to coincide with the announcement that the theme for this year’s National Album Day, which is being held on October 16, is “celebrating women in music”.
Adele, full name Adele Laurie Blue Adkins, graduated from the BRIT School in 2006,
She signed a recording contract with XL Recordings. In 2007, she received the Brit Awards Critics’ Choice Award and won the BBC Sound of 2008 poll. Her debut album, 19, was released in 2008.
With sales of over 120m records, Adele is one of the world’s best-selling music artists.
Adele has cited the Spice Girls as a major influence in regard to her love and passion for music, stating that “they made me what I am today”.
In 2017, Adele was ranked the richest musician under age 30 in the UK and Ireland on the Sunday Times Rich List, which valued her wealth at £125m.
She married but later divorced charity entrepreneur Simon Konecki.
THE Government has tried to give NHS staff “as much as we possibly can” after recommending a one per cent pay rise, the Prime Minister said.
The proposal has sparked talk of industrial action and demonstrations were planned across England yesterday, with senior Conservatives also speaking out.
An Opinium poll carried out on Friday and Saturday suggested as much as 72 per cent of the population think the wage recommendation is too low, including 58 per cent of Tory voters.
Boris Johnson defended the decision, however, during a visit to a vaccination centre in Brent in north London.
The Prime Minister told broadcasters: “I’m massively grateful to all NHS staff and indeed to social care workers who have been heroic throughout the pandemic.
“What we have done is try to give them as much as we can at the present time.
“The independent pay review body will obviously look at what we’ve proposed and come back.
“Don’t forget that there has been a public sector pay freeze, we’re in pretty tough times.”
Royal College of Nursing (RCN) chief Dame Donna Kinnair accused Mr Johnson of “failing to understand the situation” and said his pay defence would lead to nurses leaving the profession.
“When there are already tens of thousands of unfilled nurse jobs in the NHS, he’s pushing more to the door this weekend,” said the union’s general secretary.
The comments come after Education Secretary Gavin Williamson suggested the Government would turn to public sector cutbacks to claw back pandemic spending through a period of “restraint”.
Mr Williamson said ministers had “put forward what we believe we can afford” for nurses during “difficult economic challenges”, after £400bn of borrowing by the Government during its response to the coronavirus crisis.
Teachers and others in the public sector will face a pay freeze, with NHS staff the only group to be exempted following their efforts during the epidemic, he said.
“What we all recognise is that this is a period of making sure we have restraint right across the public sector,” he added.
Labour labelled the NHS pay recommendation “reprehensible”, and argued that a 2.1 per cent wage increase had been budgeted and legislated for in January 2020 when the NHS’s long-term spending plans were voted on in the House of Commons.
Conservatives, including former health minister Dr Dan Poulter, who has been working on the NHS front line during the pandemic, have also broken ranks to criticise the decision.
Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy said the rise recommended by Ministers to independent pay bodies amounts to a “realterms pay cut” as it will be outflanked by inflation.
He’s pushing more nurses to the door this weekend. Royal College of Nursing general secretary Dame Donna Kinnair.
IT HAS become one of the most talked about Royal spectacles for decades.
Oprah Winfrey has promised shocking content with no subject off limits and even the Queen has not been given an advance copy.
The crunch point will be whether the couple specifically mention or criticise the monarch or other members of the Royal family. Any fault-finding with one Royal will be taken as an attack on the Windsors as a whole.
Harry is known to have a good relationship with his grandmother and is unlikely to want to disrespect her, but the Royal family and their aides will be waiting to see how they come across when the Sussexes spill the beans.
Whether the Prince of Wales or even Harry’s stepmother the Duchess of Cornwall feature will also be crucial, particularly as the duke is expected to speak about his late mother Diana, Princess of Wales.
Harry and William’s bond was once so close that any divide seemed unthinkable.
But their rift stretches back to before the wedding when Harry was angered by what he perceived as his brother’s “snobbish” attitude to Meghan, after William questioned whether he should rush into things with the ex-Suits star.
Kate has also faced accusations she did little to bridge the divide and never really got to know Meghan, and that she snubbed her at the Sussexes’ final public Royal engagement on Commonwealth Day.
Depending on how audiences respond on different sides of the Atlantic, Harry and Meghan may end up garnering more public sympathy, and a greater profile in the US.
But it is unlikely there will be any real winners – apart from Winfrey herself. The chat show host and billionaire is regularly listed as one of the world’s most influential people and is credited with playing a significant role in Barack Obama’s rise to the White House.
An audience of 90m tuned in to watch her interview with King of Pop Michael Jackson in 1993. In 2013 she grilled disgraced drug cheat cyclist Lance Armstrong, who finally came clean about his years of doping.
And it was Winfrey’s couch Tom Cruise jumped on in 2005 to proclaim his love for Katie Holmes. Nor is it her first experience of Royalty – Harry’s aunt, Sarah, Duchess of York, has also been interviewed by the 67-year-old talk show queen.
THE GROUP behind the Golden Globe Awards has said it is committed to immediate “transformational change” and reforms amid heightened scrutiny around its membership and practices.
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) said in a statement that it would focus on adding black and other under-represented members to its organisation in addition to increasing transparency around its operations.
The group outlined initial steps that it will take over the next 60 days, including hiring independent experts to audit its rules and membership requirements, engaging in outreach to add black professionals to the organisation, and hiring an independent law firm to review its policies and to set up a confidential way for individuals to report violations.
In the lead up to the 2021 Golden Globes last weekend, a series of exposes in the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times gave the group an unflattering spotlight for its lack of black members and financial practices, leading to widespread criticism from those in the entertainment industry.
Hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler called for change on the broadcast, as did award winners on the night, including Jane Fonda and Dan Levy.
Three HFPA members took to the stage during the show to acknowledge the controversy.
The Time’s Up Foundation issued a statement in response to the organisation’s new game plan, expressing scepticism that the HFPA will fix its problems and demanding more specific details, timetables and firm commitments.
Time’s Up president and CEO Tina Tchen said that “the clock is ticking”.