Adele announces first tour in five years for new album '25'

LONDON — Adele has announced her first tour since 2011, with a string of European dates in support of her record-breaking new album, "25."

The British singer announced Thursday that she will play venues in Britain and Europe starting Feb. 29 in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Adele has previously said she finds touring lonely. But in a video on Facebook, the 27-year-old said she was "relieved to finally tell you I am of course coming on tour and I can't wait to see all of you there."

The album sold a record 2.4 million copies in its first four days in the U.S., according to Nielsen Music. In Britain, it sold 737,000 copies in its first week.

The first single, "Hello," is a hit on both sides of the Atlantic.

One reason for the astronomical sales may be that Adele declined to make her album available through music-streaming services including Apple Music and Spotify, forcing listeners to buy it either digitally and at stores.

It can be heard via U.S.-based online radio company Pandora Music Inc., which announced this week that it was playing all the songs on "25." Pandora is not an on-demand service, though, so listeners can't choose which tracks they hear.