The data are compiled by Nielsen Soundscan based on each album's weekly physical and digital sales.
One of which, Canadian singer Michael Bublé's album Christmas started its peak in late 2011.
[2] Red by Taylor Swift had the second-most weeks at number one with five.
Other albums with extended chart runs include Babel by Mumford & Sons, Tuskegee by Lionel Richie, Blown Away by Carrie Underwood, Born and Raised by John Mayer and Uncaged by Zac Brown Band; each spent two weeks on the top position.
Throughout 2012, only one act achieved multiple number-one albums on the chart: One Direction with Up All Night and Take Me Home.
Adele
's
21
was the best-selling album of 2012. This was her second consecutive year at the top of the U.S. year-end charts. She became the second artist in history to achieve this feat, after
Michael Jackson
.
Taylor Swift
's
Red
earned the singer-songwriter her third number-one album. It opened with the biggest sales week of 2012, selling 1.21 million copies in its first week.
Babel
by British
folk rock
band
Mumford & Sons
garnered their first number-one. It topped the chart for three consecutive weeks, and earned 2012's second-biggest sales week after
Red
.
Pink
earned her first number-one album with her sixth effort
The Truth About Love
, released twelve years since her debut. It has the third biggest debut sales by a female singer in this year, behind
MDNA
and
Red
.