• Drake and Adele are set to have the top-selling single and album in the U.K. in 2016 – a feat likely to be repeated in other countries.

PHILADELPHIA, PA – SEPTEMBER 09: Adele performs at Wells Fargo Center on September 9, 2016 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images)
Drake and Adele are set to have the top-selling single and album in the U.K. in 2016 – a feat likely to be repeated in other countries.The Canadian rapper and British singer lead the pack, according to the Official Charts Company, with three-quarters of 2016 gone already.
The rundown, based on combined digital downloads, physical purchases and streaming equivalent sales, leaves both artists in a strong position to be crowned king and queen, even with the busy final few months of the year to come. In 2015 things changed radically in the same period, with Adele’s 25 shooting to the top, though no similarly huge releases are forecast by analysts this time: the Adele blockbuster was seen coming months in advance, even if its scale was underestimated.

Adele is the No. 9 on FORBES Highest-Paid Celebrities 2016 List with a net worth of $80.5 million. Drake is at No. 69, with a earnings of $38.5 million.
While the 2016 UK Official Chart placings are hardly a surprise, the figures are revealing, especially at a time of headlines about reduced physical sales.

Drake’s “One Dance,” featuring Wizkid and Kyla, is well known for staying at No. 1 for 15 weeks in the U.K., equaling Wet Wet Wet’s stint with “Love Is All Around” in 1994. Now we can put numbers on its success: the song has had combined chart sales of 1.695 million in Britain this year, which includes 504,600 downloads and 119 million streams, the most streamed song of the year.