Adele’s “Hello” became the first digital single to sell one million downloads in the United States during a single week while topping the Billboard Hot 100. The song was released in 2015 as the lead single from her album 25.
“Hello” debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100 and remained there for ten weeks. In its first U.S. tracking week, it sold more than one million digital copies, a rare achievement in the digital era. The recording also generated enormous streaming and radio activity, making it one of the decade’s most dominant releases.
The song was written by Adele and Greg Kurstin, who also produced it. Its black-and-white music video was directed by Xavier Dolan and stars Tristan Wilds opposite Adele. The video broke viewing records on YouTube shortly after release.
Adele had already reached No. 1 with “Rolling in the Deep” and “Someone Like You.” Those songs were major milestones, but neither was the first digital single to pass one million U.S. downloads in one week. That specific sales record belongs to “Hello.”