Both were huge cultural and commercial icons, but which one peaked higher?

Britney.

Britney for the right and wrong reasons.

Culturally and commercially, Britney. And it's not even close.

Just now, Culture Is Lit said:

Culturally and commercially, Britney. And it's not even close

Just now, Culture Is Lit said:

Culturally and commercially, Britney. And it's not even close.

are you sure that britney was bigger commercially than adele

I feel like it's Britney. Adele's popularity is kind of in the same universe as Britney's though.

Edited May 20May 20 by Joyride

Britney culturally without a doubt. Commercially, a case could be made for Adele bc of how enormous her peak was.. but overall, in the long run, I'd say Britney had the stronger career.

4 minutes ago, Strawberry Bubble said:

are you sure that britney was bigger commercially than adele

Obviously. Britney had the sales but she also had multi-million dollar deals including one with Pepsi. She partnered with billion dollar enterprises such as McDonald's, L'Oreal, Herbal Essences, Tommy Hilfiger, Skechers, Poloriod, Toyota, Hasbro, and more. She had her face plastered everywhere from Barbie Dolls to pencils to inflatable toys and so forth. Forbes didn't name her the most powerful celebrity for nothing. So to answer your question, yes she was more commercially successful than Adele because it went beyond just music, which she was also very successful in. Not sure why so many of you have selective amnesia and/or love to rewrite history when it comes to Britney. No female has ever reached that level of stardom since and like many have suggested, it's probably for the best.

Edited May 21May 21 by Culture Is Lit

Adele. Britney came and went on the charts fast.

Hello was probably one of the biggest selling singles of all time at the time it was released in 2015.

but we would not have the paparazzi culture we have now without Britney

Culturally, Britney

Commercially Adele, she had no peers and mopped the floor with absolutely everyone in 2011-2013 in all fronts 0 close competitors (Britney did have them)

Edited May 21May 21 by Popboi.

Commercially it's Adele, like objectively. I do feel like that gives her the edge as far as culture goes, but I was too young during Britney's celebrity peak to be sure.

Adele by numbers.

Britney by celebrity status (for better or worse..).

1 minute ago, Loca said:

Commercially it's Adele, like objectively. I do feel like that gives her the edge as far as culture goes, but I was too young during Britney's celebrity peak to be sure.

You know YouTube exists right? That's the closest thing to a time machine we'll get. Just look up videos of Britney from 1999-2008 and it'll give you a perspective as to just how much cultural pandemonium surrounded her. Also, Britney released 4 studio albums in 5 years and broke a soundscan record with each one. Meanwhile, Adele was releasing one album every few years. Not to mention — Gaga, Rihanna, Miley, Beyoncé and Taylor were all culturally bigger than Adele from her 21 to 25 eras, respectfully speaking.

Edited May 21May 21 by Culture Is Lit

Adele destroyed her sales wise. She literally had everyone from all walks of life & age buying her albums while Britney only had children who begged parents to buy.

musically they are not even in the same category Adele is taken seriously in all formats while Britney is only celebrated in clubs .

Adele & Britney can release on the same day this year & we know Adele would eat her up on all formats lol especially with the critics.

Adele or Britney. Xtina came and went on the chart farts.

Britney for both.

Adele might have a larger average per album (pure sales), but overall, Britney has sold more (including single sales).

1 hour ago, nick_rod said:

Britney for both.

Adele might have a larger average per album (pure sales), but overall, Britney has sold more (including single sales).

Single sales

BOMT-12.6m

21-59.3m

Adele BY FARRR and not only Adele, so many others

21 alone-57m units

BOMT+Oops- 59m units

25-35.7m units

It's not even close lol…

Adele outsold her competition by 3:1 while Britney was getting outsold by Alanis, Celine, Shania, and so on

The new amazon ad implementation thingy decided it is Britney, as her catalogue is the only one that shows up for purchase out of the two.

Adele was the biggest artist during her peak whereas Britney wasn't even bigger than Eminem.

Adele's commercial success was bigger than Britney. Britney was the bigger celebrity.

Please, the 'Hello' tv ad alone clears the charismatic girl career. Not to mention, 25 sold almost x3 the Oops first week sales in a much worse sales climate.

Britney's cultural peak felt more a celebrity one while Adele was more about people resonating when her music. Nearly everyone was listening to Adele in the peak of 21 while I don't know if you could say the same about Britney during her peak era. It was more manufactured (controversial music video's, award show stunts etc).

26 minutes ago, TaylorsSquad said:

Adele was the biggest artist during her peak whereas Britney wasn't even bigger than Eminem.

Eminem is ALSO bigger than Adele, lol ! 🤣🤣🤣🤣💀

adele had a higher peak commercially , but I feel like Britney had a longer one

Britney completely in influence, impact and celebrity

So just because of 21 Adele Commercially and Britney in everything else