Adele Stays On Top for 18th Week

British singer-songwriter Adele continues to top the Billboard charts throughout the country, as her smash success 21 remained at the peak position for its 18^th straight week. Her sophomore record continues to roll, selling almost 116,000 copies last week according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Now in rarified air, Adele tied Garth Brooks’ Ropin’ the Wind with her 18^th consecutive appearance at number one, and could soon match Elvis Presley’s Blue Hawaii and the Bodyguard soundtrack by making it to 20.

21 nearly doubled the closest competitor, as Tim McGraw brought in 68,000 records sold with his debut of Emotional Traffic, followed by metal group Lamb of God’s Resolution with nearly 53,000. The top five slots are finished out by the 2012 Grammy Nominees album with over 52,000 units and Ingrid Michaelson’s Human Again at almost 40,000 copies.

Next week brings a new menu of challengers to the throne, as Leonard Cohen prepares to release Old Ideas, along with the controversial Lana Del Rey’s Born to Die.

Adele is slated to make her first public performance in a number of months at the 2012 Grammy Awards on February 12 after recovering from throat microsurgery in November 2011. 21 is nominated for Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album while the single “Rolling in the Deep” is up for Record and Song of the Year.