Adele’s album 21 spent 23 weeks at number one on the UK Albums Chart. That total was accumulated across separate periods at the top during the album’s remarkable chart run in 2011 and afterward.
Released in January 2011, 21 debuted at number one in the United Kingdom with first-week sales of more than 200,000 copies. Its commercial success was driven by songs such as “Rolling in the Deep,” “Someone like You,” and “Set Fire to the Rain,” which kept the album in public attention for an unusually long period.
The 23-week total made 21 the album with the most weeks at number one by a female solo artist in UK chart history. Eleven of those weeks were consecutive, another record for a female artist at the time. The album’s long chart life helped make it one of the defining releases of the 2010s.
This figure refers to the UK Albums Chart, not the US Billboard 200. In the United States, 21 spent 24 weeks at number one, so the two totals are easy to confuse. The quiz’s 23-week answer is specifically correct for the UK chart.