The ‘Someone Like You’ singer’s second LP broke the four million sales barrier at the weekend when it reached number one on the UK album chart for a 21st week.

21′s sales total currently stands at 4,020,000 – nearly 61,000 more than Jackson’s classic 1987 record, which features the iconic tracks ‘Man In The Mirror’, ‘Smooth Criminal’, ‘The Way You Make Me Feel’ and ‘Dirty Diana’.

“This is another incredible achievement to cap a year of incredible achievements for Adele,” said Martin Talbot of the Official Charts Company. “By overtaking Bad, 21 has truly, officially cemented Adele’s place among the all-time greats.

“Who would bet against her improving further on that achievement by taking steps towards the all-time Top 5?”

21 is presently the eighth biggest-selling album of all time in the UK. Its nearest competition is The Dark Side Of The Moon by Pink Floyd with 4,114,000 copies and Brothers In Arms by Dire Straits, which stands at 4,152,000.

Queen’s Greatest Hits collection currently sits atop the UK’s best-sellers chart with sales of 5,863,000.

In December, Adele’s 21 overtook Back To Black by the late Amy Winehouse to become the biggest-selling album of the 21st century in the UK.

It has been confirmed that since Adele’s performance and awards victory at the Brits, a copy of either 21 or her debut album 19 is purchased on average every seven seconds.

The ‘Born This Way’ singer scooped the prize, which was voted for by over 1.5 million members of the public.

GaGa also picked up awards in four other categories; for ‘Best Track’, ‘Best Female’, ‘Best Video’ and ‘Hottest Female’, fending off competition from Cheryl Cole and Rihanna.

Virgin Media editor-in-chief of digital entertainment Nick Forward said: “The shock result for me was Lady GaGa beating Adele to win ‘Best Album’. Adele’s 21 has spent a record breaking 18 consecutive weeks at number one, so for Lady GaGa to swoop in and win this award was a huge surprise.

“It just demonstrates the incredible power of her fanbase. The results are never quite as we predict but at the end of the day, with over 1.5 million voters, these results really do reflect the voice of the public.”

Other surprise wins included Cliff Richard, who picked up ‘Legend of the Year’ over Amy Winehouse and Tony Bennett. However, the pair’s recent duet ‘Body and Soul’ beat Maroon 5 and Christina Aguilera’s ‘Moves Like Jagger’ for ‘Best Collaboration’.

Adele recently picked up six Grammy awards for 21, including ‘Album of the Year’ and ‘Song of the Year’.