Adele's 21 scores again, beating Swift for 2012's top album

LOS ANGELES (REUTERS) - British singer Adele's Grammy-winning 21 scored a rare feat in 2012 as it topped United States (US) album sales for a second straight year, beating out US country-pop star Taylor Swift's Red, Nielsen Soundscan said on Thursday.

It was the first time a single album had been a top-seller for two years in a row since Nielsen began tracking album sales in 1991, the organisation said.

But US album sales overall fell 4 per cent in 2012 to 315.96 million albums, after 2011 saw a rare 3 percent bump in sales.

Adele's 21 sold 4.41 million units in the United States in 2012 to top Swift's Red, which sold 3.11 million copies. In 2011, 21 sold 5.82 million units.