National Album Day has announced its theme for 2021 as Celebrating Women in Music. To coincide with the announcement, the Official Charts Company has revealed that Adele is the UK’s best-selling female album artist since the year 2000.
The top 10 best-selling female artists have sold in excess of 72 million albums between them (including streaming equivalents).
Taking place on Saturday, October 16, the fourth edition of the day dedicated to the album format will celebrate women artists and their huge contribution to music and culture through the form of the album.
Celebrating Women in Music allows for the opportunity to revisit iconic and influential albums by women, from the very earliest pioneers to present-day legends, and point towards the exciting women artists of the future. It will also highlight the role of women within the wider music community including songwriters and producers who are often overlooked.
Adele also claims the Number 1 album by a woman artist of the century to date, with her 2011 album 21, which has sold just shy of 6 million copies in the UK alone. Her other albums, 25 and 19 also feature in the Top 10 at Number 3 and Number 9, respectively.
Also taking multiple spots in the Top 10 is Dido, with No Angel (6) and Life For Rent (7).
“We are delighted that National Album Day is returning for a fourth edition, again supported by our official partners Bowers & Wilkins and BBC Sounds, and with a theme that will rightly celebrate the huge contribution being made by women to music through the album format,” said the BPI’s Geoff Taylor and Kim Bayley of the Entertainment Retailers Association in a joint statement.
“The way music is made, discovered and enjoyed may be changing, but the album remains central to this process, and National Album Day allows fans and artists alike to celebrate this much loved art form and remind ourselves of its continuing power to tell a story in a way that only it can, influencing and inspiring generations along the way.”
More information, including this year's ambassadors and exclusive product, will be made throughout the year leading to the event on October 16.
The UK's Official Top 10 women album artists – 2000 to 2021:
1. Adele
2. P!nk
3. Madonna
4. Rihanna
5. Dido
6. Amy Winehouse
7. Kylie Minogue
8. Beyonce
9. Britney Spears
10. Lady Gaga
The UK's Official Top 10 albums by women artists – 2000 to 2021:
1. 21: Adele
2. Back To Black: Amy Winehouse
3. 25: Adele
4. Spirit: Leona Lewis
5. Fame: Lady Gaga
6. No Angel: Dido
7. Life For Rent: Didi
8. Come Away With Me: Norah Jones
9. 19: Adele
10. Our Version Of Events: Emeli Sande