Adele Boosts Record Industry Sales

Congratulations Adele, you're officially the biggest pop-star of the year! We already knew Adele was out of this world, but Rolling Stoneconfirmed it earlier today, reporting that Adele is the new savior of the struggling record industry. Thanks to the monumental sales of her runaway hit album 21, the industry is experiencing its first overall records sales increase since 2004. Yikes. And while the increase clocks in at a mere 1%, it's the first positive sign of life in years.

Not all of the credit can go to Adele, however. The Queen of the Little Monsters, Lady Gaga, also played a helping hand in the industry's sales spike. Maybe it was the cover, but Gaga's latest album Born This Way set the record for the highest selling premiere week, selling no less than 1.1 million copies -- which, y'know, probably counts for something.

With these figures, all we can say is "Long Live Female Pop Stars."

Photo: Getty Images

-- FLASH STEINBEISER

Previously > First Look: Icona Pop's "Manners"