The Adele album that won the 2012 Brit Award for British Album of the Year was 21. Adele accepted the award at the 2012 BRIT Awards, held on 21 February at London’s O2 Arena.
Released in January 2011, 21 was Adele’s second studio album, following her debut, 19. Its songs—including “Rolling in the Deep,” “Someone Like You” and “Set Fire to the Rain”—helped turn the album into a global phenomenon. It topped charts in more than 30 countries and became one of the defining albums of the 2010s.
The award is easy to confuse with Adele’s later BRIT success. Her album 25 won the same category in 2016, while 30 won British Album of the Year in 2022. The 2012 award, however, specifically belonged to 21, which also won Album of the Year at the 2012 Grammys.