Hello, the first song from British pop star Adele in over three years, is firing on all cylinders and then some. The song made quick work of climbing to the top of the Billboard hot 100 charts, had the just missed grabbing the highest streamed debut of any video in the history of YouTube (to Gangnam Style), and is now the first song to be digitally downloaded in the U.S. over a million times in a single week.
In fact, it was significantly more than just a million downloads; Hello was purchased 1,112,000 times in over a seven-day span. That’s a lot of attention for a pop star who has such acute stage fright that she flat out refuses to perform for festival crowds, and who hadn’t put a song out since 2012’s Oscar-winning Bond theme, Skyfall.
“I was so frightened that no one cared,” Adele told radio DJ Elvis Duran hours after the song debuted. Well, the songstress is more than likely a bit less worried about that now. Heck, even Sir David Attenborough has lept into the pandemonium with a hilarious new video introducing the track.
Featuring sparse piano and passionate lyrics about an ex-boyfriend, Hello is Adele’s fourth Hot 100 number one hit, following Rolling in the Deep, Someone Like You, and Set Fire to the Rain.
The song also topped the week’s streaming list in its debut, with a combined 61 million plays between Spotify, YouTube, and other streaming services during the first days of its release.
The single was released as part of the build up to Adele’s third studio album, 25, which is due out November 20, via XL/Columbia Records. Once the album comes out, Adele will perform on Saturday Night Live the next day, with Matthew McConaughey set to host.
According to an open letter posted to Facebook earlier this year, Adele’s latest record will be different than her last. “My last record was a break-up record and if I had to label this one I would call it a make-up record.”
25 is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.
