21 AT 21

Between Grammy spikes and the untimely passing of Whitney Houston, this week’s HITS Album Sales chart is filled with triple-digit gains, but XL/Columbia Records super diva Adele tops them all with her 21 album’s 21st week at #1, the most in the SoundScan era, tying MC Hammer’s reign in 1990 with Please Hammer Don’t Hurt 'Em. Next up: the Saturday Night Fever and Purple Rain soundtracks at 24 weeks apiece.

The album sells another 716k this week, a nearly 200% gain, and is now up to 7.3 million, already a front-runner to be 2012’s best-selling release in only the third week of February.

Adele’s 2008 debut, 19, is also in the Top 5 at #4, with 86k, bringing its total up toward 2 million.

The late Whitney Houston’s Greatest Hits on RCA is #2 with 170k, +183% over the prior week, with Capitol/EMI’s Now 41 (#3) and Universal Republic’s 2012 Grammy Nominees (#5) rounding out the leader board.

Hear Music/Concord’s Paul McCartney (#6), Interscope’s Van Halen (#7), New Elektra’s Bruno Mars (#28-8, +114%), Capitol Nashville/EMI’s Lady Antebellum (#17-9, +43%) and Capitol/EMI’s Coldplay (#10) complete the Top 10.

Other Grammy sales boosts are registered by sensibility’s The Civil Wars (#35-11, +145%), Big Machine’s Taylor Swift (#49-28, +78%), Glassnote’s Mumford & Sons (#34-20, +63%) and Columbia’s Tony Bennett (#36-27, +46%).

Thanks to the awards show, Roswell/RCA’s Foo Fighters (#23), Jagjaguwar’s Bon Iver (#32), Warner Bros. Nashville’s Blake Shelton (#41), Startime/Columbia’s Foster the People (#42), Capitol Nashville/EMI’s Eric Church (#43), Big Beat’s Skrillex (#49) and Capitol/EMI’s Katy Perry (#50) all re-enter the Top 50.

In the wake of Whitney’s death, RCA’s Whitney Houston album (36) and The Bodyguard soundtrack (#45) also return to the chart.

Next week’s releases include Fueled by Ramen/Atlantic’s fun., riding a huge hit with “We Are Young,” YM/CM/Universal Republic’s Tyga and Mom + Pop/RED’s Sleigh Bells, the musical guests on last week’s Saturday Night Live.