Thanks to Adele, Lady Gaga and Michael Buble, 2011 was actually not a bad year for the music world.
Adele's "21" and Gaga's "Born This Way" are on pace to be the bestselling albums of the year, with more than 5 million and 2 million copies sold in the U.S., respectively. While final figures won't be released until after Jan. 1, 2012, Buble's "Christmas" is expected to land in third place, with more than 1.96 million copies sold.
Numbers aside, 2011 was also filled with Jay-Z and Kanye West, in the form of their collaborative album "Watch the Throne." The album, which sold more than 1.2 million copies in the U.S., was followed by a critically acclaimed, sold-out North American tour, with dates in Atlanta, Kansas City and Vancouver.
With 2011 drawing to a close, music fans around the world are looking ahead to some of the biggest albums of 2012.
As New York songstress Lana Del Rey counts down the days until the January release of her debut album, "Born to Die," fans of Madonna are patiently waiting for the Material Girl to put finishing touches to her first studio album in four years.
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Gwen Stefani and No Doubt are also gearing up for the release of their sixth studio album, which remains untitled. The Anaheim, California rock band has not released new material since 2001's "Rock Steady," which sold more than 3 million copies.
Bieber fever will surely spike in 2012, as Justin Bieber prepares to unleash his third studio album, "Believe."
Here are the 10 most anticipated albums of 2012, in no particular order:
Lana Del Rey, "Born to Die" (Jan. 27)
Since the release of "Video Games," music fans outside of Brooklyn, New York have been talking about Lana Del Rey, the 25-year-old songstress who signed with Interscope Records just in October. Del Rey, whose real name is Elizabeth Grant, has received more than 4.4 million views on YouTube for her "Born to Die" music video, which features the sultry singer in a variety of scenes involving tigers and a beautiful tattooed model.
Her newest fan? None other than Kanye West, who recently posted a series of stills from the "Born to Die" video, along with a Tweet simply containing the word, "LANA."
Madonna, Untitled (March)
Madonna's new three-album deal with Interscope will kick off in March, with the release of her first album since 2008's "Hard Candy." With a Super Bowl halftime performance lined up and the official release of her first single "Gimme All Your Luvin" due in January, the onset of 2012 will be dominated by all things Madge.
Just don't expect the 53-year-old Material Girl to release any more details on her upcoming untitled album. In November, team Madonna was furious when an unfinished version of her song, then called "Give Me All Your Love," was leaked into the music world.
No Doubt, Untitled (2012)
It's true, Gwen, Tony, Adrian, and Tom are coming back as No Doubt in 2012, when the band releases its first album in more than a decade. In September, No Doubt released a statement about the new material, noting that the album was actually supposed to come out in 2011.
