Adele's '21' Breaks Whitney Houston Billboard Record

(NewsCore) - Adele's "21" album broke numerous sales records last week when it sold 730,000 copies, Billboard reported Wednesday.

The number marked Adele's biggest sales week and came in the wake of her six Grammy wins and her first performance since having vocal cord surgery last fall.

The album spent its 21st nonconsecutive week atop the Billboard 200 albums chart, surpassing a sales record set by Whitney Houston's "The Bodyguard" soundtrack from 1992-1993.

Although Adele's feat is bittersweet in light of Houston's sudden death on the eve of the Grammys, the development is something of a win-win for Sony Music, which released both Adele's album and the "Bodyguard" soundtrack.

The 730,000 copies moved by "21" mark the biggest sales week for any album since Lil Wayne's "Tha Carter IV" debuted at No. 1 with 964,000 in September.

However, the last time a non-debuting album sold more than 730,000 copies was over the 2007 Christmas holiday, when Josh Groban's "Noel" moved 757,000 units.

"21" also holds the record for the second-largest sales week for an album outside of its first month of release and the holiday shopping season.

During its 52 weeks on the Billboard 200, Adele's latest album has never left the top 10.