Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the
BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a record deal with
XL Recordings. Her debut album, ''
19'', was released in 2008 and spawned the UK top-five singles "
Chasing Pavements" and "
Make You Feel My Love". The album was certified
8× platinum in the UK and
triple platinum in the US. Adele was honoured with the
Brit Award for Rising Star
The Rising Star Award (previously Critics' Choice Award) is an award given by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), an organisation which represents record companies and artists in the United Kingdom. The accolade is presented at the Brit Awards ...
as well as the
Grammy Award for Best New Artist.
Adele released her second studio album, ''
21'', in 2011. It became the world's
best-selling album of the 21st century, with sales of over 31 million copies. It was certified
18× platinum in the UK (the
highest by a solo artist of all time) and
Diamond in the US. According to ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'', ''21'' is the
top-performing album in the US chart history, topping the
''Billboard'' 200 for 24 weeks (the longest for a female artist ever). She was the first female artist in the history of the
''Billboard'' Hot 100 to have three simultaneous top-ten singles as a lead artist, with "
Rolling in the Deep", "
Someone Like You", and "
Set Fire to the Rain", all of which also topped the chart. The album received a
record-tying six Grammy Awards, including
Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to:
Awards
* ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia
* Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK
* Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US
* Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA
* Lati ...
, and the
Brit Award for British Album of the Year. The success of ''21'' earned Adele numerous mentions in the ''
Guinness Book of Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
''.
In 2012, Adele released "
Skyfall", a soundtrack single for the
''James Bond'' film of the same name, which won the
Academy Award and the
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song. Her third studio album, ''
25'', was released in 2015 and became the year's best-selling album, also
breaking first-week sales records in the UK and US, where it is the only album to sell over three million copies in a week. ''25'' was her second album to be certified
Diamond in the US and earned her
five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, and
four Brit Awards, including British Album of the Year. The lead single, "
Hello", became the first song in the US to sell over one million digital copies within a week of its release. Her fourth studio album ''
30'', which contains the chart-topping single "
Easy on Me
"Easy on Me" is a song by English singer Adele from her fourth studio album '' 30'' (2021). Adele wrote the song with its producer, Greg Kurstin. Columbia Records released it as the album's lead single on 15 October 2021. It is a minimally pr ...
", was released in 2021 and became the year's best-selling album worldwide including US and UK. ''30'' won the 2022 Brit Award for British Album of the Year.
Adele is one of the
world's best-selling music artists, with sales of over 170 million records as of 2022. Her
accolades
The accolade (also known as dubbing or adoubement) ( la, benedictio militis) was the central act in the rite of passage ceremonies conferring knighthood in the Middle Ages. From about 1852, the term ''accolade'' was used much more generally to ...
include fifteen
Grammy Awards, twelve
Brit Awards, an
Academy Award, a
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
and a
Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...
. In 2011, 2012, and 2016, ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' named her Artist of the Year. At the 2012 and 2016
Ivor Novello Awards, Adele was named Songwriter of the Year by the
The Ivors Academy. ''
Time'' magazine named her one of the
most influential people in the world in 2012, 2016, and 2022. She was appointed a
MBE Mbe may refer to:
* Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo
* Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria
* Mbe language, a language of Nigeria
* Mbe' language, language of Cameroon
* ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language
Molal ...
at the
2013 Queen's Birthday Honours
The 2013 Birthday Honours were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as part of t ...
for services to music. Her album ''21'' has been listed in ''Rolling Stone''s
500 Greatest Albums of All Time (2020).
Insider magazine called her the greatest artist of 2010s decade.
Early life and education
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins
was born on 5 May 1988 in the
Tottenham district of London, to an English mother, Penny Adkins, and a Welsh father, Marc Evans. Evans left when Adele was 2, and she was brought up by her mother.
She began singing at age 4 and asserts that she became obsessed with voices. In 1997, 9-year-old Adele and her mother, who by then had found work as a furniture maker and an adult-learning activities organiser, relocated to
Brighton
Brighton () is a seaside resort and one of the two main areas of the City of Brighton and Hove in the county of East Sussex, England. It is located south of London.
Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze A ...
on the south coast of England.
In 1999, she and her mother moved back to London; first to
Brixton
Brixton is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th ce ...
, then to the neighbouring district of
West Norwood in south London, which is the subject of her first song "
Hometown Glory". She spent much of her youth in
Brockwell Park where she would play the guitar and sing to friends, which she recalled in her 2015 song "
Million Years Ago". She stated, "It has quite monumental moments of my life that I've spent there, and I drove past it
n 2015and I just literally burst into tears. I really missed it." Adele graduated from the
BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology in Croydon in May 2006,
where she was a classmate of
Leona Lewis and
Jessie J
Jessica Ellen Cornish (born 27 March 1988), known professionally as Jessie J, is an English singer. Born and raised in London, she began her career on stage, aged 11, with a role in the West End musical '' Whistle Down the Wind''. She studied ...
.
[Collis, Clark (19 December 2008), "Spotlight on... Adele." ''Entertainment Weekly.'' (1026):62.] Adele credits the school with nurturing her talent
even though, at the time, she was more interested in going into
artists and repertoire (A&R) and hoped to launch other people's careers.
Career
2006–2010: Career beginnings and ''19''
Four months after graduation, Adele published two songs on the fourth issue of the online arts publication ''PlatformsMagazine.com.'' She had recorded a three-song demo for a class project and given it to a friend.
The friend posted the demo on Myspace, where it became very successful and led to a phone call from Richard Russell, boss of the music label
XL Recordings. She doubted if the offer was real because the only record company she knew was
Virgin Records, and she took a friend with her to the meeting.
Around this time, Adele collaborated with Ricsta on "Be Divine", a song described as an "electronic club-ready" track.
Nick Huggett, at XL, recommended Adele to manager Jonathan Dickins at September Management, and in June 2006, Dickins became her official representative.
September was managing
Jamie T
Jamie Alexander Treays (born 8 January 1986), better known by his stage name Jamie T, is an English singer, songwriter, rapper, guitarist and record producer from Wimbledon, South London.
Jamie T released his debut album, '' Panic Prevention'' ...
at the time and this proved a major draw for Adele, a big fan of the British singer-songwriter. Huggett then signed Adele to XL in September 2006.
Adele provided vocals for
Jack Peñate's song, "My Yvonne," for his debut album, and it was during this session she first met producer
Jim Abbiss, who would go on to produce both the majority of her debut album, ''19,'' and tracks on ''21.''
In June 2007, Adele made her television debut, performing "Daydreamer" on the BBC's ''
Later... with Jools Holland''. Adele's breakthrough song, "
Hometown Glory", written when she was 16, was released in October 2007.
By 2008, Adele had become the headliner and performed an acoustic set, in which she was supported by
Damien Rice. She became the first recipient of the
Brit Awards ''
Critics' Choice'' and was named the number-one predicted breakthrough act of 2008 in an annual BBC poll of music critics,
Sound of 2008. She released her second single, "
Chasing Pavements", on 14 January 2008, two weeks ahead of her debut album. The song reached number two on the UK Chart, and stayed there for four weeks.
The album ''
19,'' named for her age at the time she wrote and composed many of its songs, entered the British charts at number one. ''
The Times'' ''Encyclopedia of Modern Music'' named ''19'' an "essential"
blue-eyed soul
Blue-eyed soul (also called white soul) is rhythm and blues (R&B) and soul music performed by white artists. The term was coined in the mid-1960s, to describe white artists whose sound was similar to that of the predominantly-black Motown and Stax ...
recording.
Adele was nominated for a 2008
Mercury Prize award for ''19''. She also won an
Urban Music Award
The Urban Music Awards (UMA) is a hip-hop, R&B, dance, and soul music awards ceremony which was launched by Jordan Kensington in 2003 and is now held in several countries.
The US version of the award ceremony, the Urban Music Awards USA, was ...
for "Best Jazz Act," and a Music of Black Origin (
MOBO) nomination in the category of Best UK Female. In March 2008, Adele signed a deal with
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
and XL Recordings for her foray into the United States.
She embarked on a short North American tour in the same month,
and ''19'' was released in the US in June.
''Billboard'' magazine stated of it: "Adele truly has potential to become among the most respected and inspiring international artists of her generation."
The
An Evening with Adele
An Evening with Adele was the debut concert tour by English singer-songwriter Adele, in support of her debut studio album, ''19 (Adele album), 19''. The tour was unusual in that it included few dates in the United Kingdom, Adele's home country ...
world tour began in May 2008 and ended in June 2009.
She later cancelled the 2008 US tour dates to be with a former boyfriend.
She said in ''
Nylon'' magazine in June 2009, "I'm like, 'I can't believe I did that.' It seems so ungrateful.... I was drinking far too much and that was kind of the basis of my relationship with this boy. I couldn't bear to be without him, so I was like, 'Well, I'll just cancel my stuff then.'"
[Shapiro, Marc (2012). "Adele: The Biography". p. 88. Macmillan.] She referred to this period as her "early life crisis".
She is also known for her dislike of flying and bouts of homesickness when away from her native London.
By the middle of October 2008, Adele's attempt to break in America appeared to have failed. But then she was booked as the musical guest on 18 October 2008 episode of
NBC's ''
Saturday Night Live.'' The episode, which included an expected appearance by then US vice-presidential candidate
Sarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 R ...
, earned the program its best ratings in 14 years with 17 million viewers. Adele performed "Chasing Pavements" and "
Cold Shoulder," and the following day, ''19'' topped the iTunes charts and ranked at number five at Amazon.com while "Chasing Pavements" rose into the top 25. The album reached number 11 on the
''Billboard'' 200 as a result, a jump of 35 places over the previous week.
In November 2008, Adele moved to
Notting Hill, London after leaving her mother's house, a move that prompted her to give up drinking.
The album was certified gold in early 2009, by the
RIAA
The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
. By July 2009, the album had sold 2.2 million copies worldwide.
At the
51st Annual Grammy Awards
The 51st Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, on February 8, 2009, honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2007, through September 30, 2008. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were the b ...
in February 2009, Adele won the award for
Best New Artist, in addition to the award for
Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Chasing Pavements", which was also nominated for
Record of the Year and
Song of the Year Song of the Year may refer to:
* Country Music Association Award for Song of the Year
* Dove Award for Song of the Year
* Golden Melody Award for Song of the Year
* Grammis Song of the Year
* Grammy Award for Song of the Year
* Latin Grammy Awa ...
. Adele performed "Chasing Pavements" at the ceremony in a duet with
Jennifer Nettles. In 2010, Adele received a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Hometown Glory." In April her song "
My Same
''19'' is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter Adele, released on 28 January 2008 by XL Recordings. Following Adele's graduation from the BRIT School in April 2006, she began publishing songs and recorded a three-song demo for a ...
" entered the
German Singles Chart after it had been performed by
Lena Meyer-Landrut
Lena Johanna Therese Meyer-Landrut (; born 23 May 1991), also known by the mononym Lena, is a German singer. She rose to fame after representing Germany in the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 in Oslo, winning the contest with her song "Satellite". ...
in the talent show contest ''
Unser Star für Oslo
Germany won the Eurovision Song Contest 2010, which was held in May 2010 in Oslo, Norway. The country's entry was selected in a series of competitive heats and a national final – ''Unser Star für Oslo'' – which was organised jointly b ...
,'' or ''Our Star for Oslo,'' in which the German entry to the
Eurovision Song Contest 2010 was determined. In late September, after being featured on ''
The X Factor,'' Adele's version of
Bob Dylan's "
Make You Feel My Love" re-entered the UK singles chart at number 4. During the 2010 ''
CMT Artists of the Year'' special, Adele performed a widely publicised duet of
Lady Antebellum's "
Need You Now" with
Darius Rucker. This performance was later nominated for a
CMT Music Award
The CMT Music Awards is a fan-voted awards show for country music videos and television performances. The awards ceremony is held every year in Nashville, Tennessee, and broadcast live on the CMT (Country Music Television) channel. Voting takes p ...
.
2011–2014: ''21'', worldwide recognition and hiatus
Adele released her second studio album, ''
21'', on 24 January 2011 in the UK and 22 February in the US.
She said the album was inspired by the breakup with her former partner.
The album's sound is described as classic and contemporary
country and
roots music. The change in sound from her debut album was the result of her bus driver playing contemporary music from Nashville when she was touring the American South, and the title reflected the growth she had experienced in the prior two years.
Adele told ''
Spin Magazine:'' "It was really exciting for me because I never grew up around
hat music
A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...
"
''21'' topped the charts in 30 countries, including the UK and the US.
In a 2011 ''
Rolling Stone'' cover story, Adele said she dealt with onstage anxiety by creating the
alter ego
An alter ego (Latin for "other I", " doppelgänger") means an alternate self, which is believed to be distinct from a person's normal or true original personality. Finding one's alter ego will require finding one's other self, one with a differen ...
"Sasha Carter", derived from
Beyoncé
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...
's "Sasha Fierce" and
June Carter. During one episode after she met Beyoncé, Adele said, she asked "What would Sasha Fierce do?" and that helped.
An emotional performance of "
Someone Like You" at the
31st Brit Awards
Brit Awards 2011 was the 31st edition of the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music show, the Brit Awards. The awards ceremony was held on Tuesday 15 February 2011
at The O2 Arena in London for the first time in its history, moving fro ...
on 15 February propelled the song to number one in the UK. Her first album, ''19,'' re-entered the UK album chart alongside ''21,'' while first and second singles "
Rolling in the Deep" and "Someone Like You" were in the top 5 of the UK singles chart, making Adele the first living artist to achieve the feat of two top-five hits in both the Official Singles Chart and the Official Albums Chart simultaneously since
the Beatles in 1964. Both songs topped the charts in multiple markets and broke numerous sales performance records. Following her performance of "Someone Like You" at the
2011 MTV Video Music Awards
The 2011 MTV Video Music Awards took place on August 28, at Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, honoring the best music videos from the previous year. On July 20, the nominees were announced. Katy Perry received the most nominations this year at ten, ...
, it became Adele's second number-one single on the
''Billboard'' Hot 100. By December 2011, ''21'' sold over 3.4 million copies in the UK, and became the biggest-selling album of the 21st century, overtaking
Amy Winehouse's ''
Back to Black'',
with Adele becoming the first artist ever to sell three million albums in the UK in one calendar year. "
Set Fire to the Rain" became Adele's third number-one single on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, as Adele became the first artist ever to have an album, ''21,'' hold the number-one position on the ''Billboard'' 200 concurrently with three number-one singles.
Moreover, ''21'' had the most weeks on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart of any album by a female artist.
To promote the album, Adele embarked upon the "
Adele Live
Adele Live was the second concert tour by English singer-songwriter Adele. She visited Europe and North America, the tour supported her second studio album, '' 21''. Adele was backed by a five-piece band and backing singers, whilst for some so ...
" tour, which sold out its North American leg. In October 2011, Adele was forced to cancel two tours because of a vocal-cord haemorrhage. She released a statement saying she needed an extended period of rest to avoid permanent damage to her voice. In the first week of November 2011
Steven M. Zeitels
Steven Marc Zeitels (born November 7, 1957) is the Eugene B. Casey Professor of Laryngeal Surgery at Harvard Medical School and the Director of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Center for Laryngeal Surgery and Voice Rehabilitation (MGH Voice Ce ...
, director of the Center for Laryngeal Surgery and Voice Rehabilitation at the
Massachusetts General Hospital
Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United Stat ...
in Boston, performed laser microsurgery on Adele's vocal cords to remove a benign polyp. A recording of her tour, ''
Live at the Royal Albert Hall,'' was released in November 2011, debuting at number one in the US with 96,000 copies sold, the highest one-week tally for a music DVD in four years, becoming the best-selling music DVD of 2011. Adele is the first artist in
Nielsen SoundScan
Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...
history to have the year's number-one album (''
21''), number-one single ("
Rolling in the Deep"), and number-one music video (''
Live at the Royal Albert Hall'').
At the
2011 American Music Awards on 20 November, Adele won three awards;
Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist,
Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist, and
Favorite Pop/Rock Album for ''21.''
On 9 December, ''Billboard'' named Adele Artist of the Year, ''Billboard'' 200 Album of the Year (''21''), and the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 Song of the Year ("Rolling in the Deep"), becoming the first woman ever to top all three categories.
Following the throat microsurgery, she made her live comeback at the
2012 Grammy Awards
The 54th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 12, 2012, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles being broadcast on CBS honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2010 through September 30, 2011. LL Cool J hosted t ...
in February. She won in all six categories for which she was nominated, including
Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to:
Awards
* ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia
* Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK
* Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US
* Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA
* Lati ...
,
Record of the Year, and
Song of the Year Song of the Year may refer to:
* Country Music Association Award for Song of the Year
* Dove Award for Song of the Year
* Golden Melody Award for Song of the Year
* Grammis Song of the Year
* Grammy Award for Song of the Year
* Latin Grammy Awa ...
, making her the second female artist in Grammy history, after
Beyoncé
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...
, to win that many awards in a single night. Following that success, ''21'' achieved the biggest weekly sales increase following a Grammy win since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking data in 1991.
Adele received the
Brit Award for
British Female Solo Artist, and
British Album of the Year presented to her by
George Michael
George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling musici ...
. Following the Brit Awards, ''21'' reached number one for the 21st non-consecutive week in the UK.
The album has sold over 4.5 million copies in the UK where it is the
fourth-best-selling album. In October, the album's sales surpassed 4.5 million in the UK, and in November it surpassed 10 million sales in the US.
[Keith Caulfield (27 November 2012)]
"Adele's '21' Hits 10 Million in U.S. Sales"
. ''Billboard''. Retrieved 29 November 2012. The
best-selling album worldwide of 2011 and 2012, , the album has sold over 31 million copies.
['Adele acknowledged that her future songs would likely never match those she wrote for her 2011 album "21," which has sold more than 31 million copies worldwide.'] By the end of 2014, she had sold an estimated 40 million albums and 50 million singles worldwide. Adele is the only artist or band in the last decade in the US to earn an RIAA
diamond certification for a one disc album in less than two years.
In October 2012, Adele confirmed that she had been writing, composing and recording the theme song for ''
Skyfall'', the twenty-third
''James Bond'' film. The song "
Skyfall," written and composed in collaboration with producer
Paul Epworth
Paul Richard Epworth (born 25 July 1974) is an English record producer, songwriter, musician, and remixer. He has worked with artists including Adele, Florence and the Machine, Rihanna, and Maxïmo Park, among many others. He is a member o ...
, was recorded at
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London, England. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of British music c ...
, and features orchestrations by
J. A. C. Redford
Jonathan Alfred Clawson Redford (born July 14, 1953) is an American composer, arranger, orchestrator, and conductor. He is also the author of ''Welcome All Wonders: A Composer's Journey''.
Artistic development
A wide variety of musical influenc ...
. Adele stated recording "Skyfall" was "one of the proudest moments of my life." On 14 October, "Skyfall" rose to number 2 on the UK Singles Chart with sales of 92,000 copies bringing its overall sales to 176,000, and "Skyfall" entered the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at number 8, selling 261,000 copies in the US in its first three days. This tied "
Skyfall" with
Duran Duran
Duran Duran () are an English Rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor (bass guitarist), John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger ...
's "
A View to a Kill" as the highest-charting
James Bond theme song on the UK Singles Chart; a record surpassed in 2015 by
Sam Smith's "
Writing's on the Wall".
"Skyfall" has sold more than five million copies worldwide and earned Adele the
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Awards are accolades bestowed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association beginning in January 1944, recognizing excellence in both American and international film and television. Beginning in 2022, there are 105 members of t ...
for
Best Original Song and the
Academy Award for
Best Original Song. In December 2012, Adele was named ''Billboard'' Artist of the Year, and ''21'' was named Album of the Year, making her the first artist to receive both accolades two years in a row.
Adele was also named top female artist.
The
Associated Press named Adele Entertainer of the Year for 2012. The
2013 Grammy Awards
The 55th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 10, 2013, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. E ...
saw Adele's live version of "Set Fire to the Rain" win the
Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance, bringing her total wins to nine.
On 3 April 2012, Adele confirmed that her third album would likely be at least two years away, stating, "I have to take time and live a little bit. There were a good two years between my first and second albums, so it'll be the same this time." She stated that she would continue writing and composing her own material.
[Kaufman, Gil (3 April 2012]
"Adele To Release New Single This Year"
. MTV. Retrieved 19 October 2012. At the 2013 Grammy Awards, she confirmed that she was in the very early stages of her third album.
She also stated that she will most likely work with Paul Epworth again.
In September 2013,
Wiz Khalifa confirmed that he and Adele had collaborated on a song for his fifth studio album, ''
Blacc Hollywood
''Blacc Hollywood'' is the fifth studio album by American rapper Wiz Khalifa. It was released in the UK on August 18, 2014 and in the US on August 19, by Rostrum Records and Atlantic Records. The album features guest appearances from Ty Dolla Sig ...
,'' though the collaboration did not make the final track listing. In January 2014, Adele received her tenth
Grammy Award with "Skyfall" winning
Best Song Written for Visual Media
The Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media (including its previous names) is the Grammy Awards awarded to songs written for films, television, video games or other visual media.
Recipients
* Each year is linked t ...
at the
56th Annual Grammy Awards
The 56th Annual Grammy Awards presentation was held on January 26, 2014, at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The show was broadcast on CBS at 8 p.m. ET/PT and was hosted for the third time by LL Cool J. The show was moved to January to avoid comp ...
.
2015–2017: ''25'' and Adele Live 2016
On the eve of her 26th birthday in May 2014, Adele posted a cryptic message via her Twitter account which prompted media discussion about her next album. The message, "Bye bye 25... See you again later in the year," was interpreted by some in the media, including
Capital FM, as meaning that her next album would be titled ''25'' and released later in the year. In 2014, Adele was nominated for nine
World Music Awards. In early August,
Paul Moss
Paul Raymond Moss is the general manager of Media Prima network's media portal and a judge in 8TV's '' One in a Million'' singing contest.
Moss was the AS A&R director of record company Positive Tone from its inception in 1994 until last year. ...
suggested that an album would be released in 2014 or 2015. However, in the October 2014 accounts filed with
Companies House by XL Recordings, they ruled out a 2014 release.
On 27 August 2015, ''
Billboard
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...
'' reported that Adele's label, XL Recordings, had intentions of releasing her third studio album sometime in November 2015.
Danger Mouse Danger Mouse may refer (or appear in) to:
* ''Danger Mouse'' (1981 TV series), a 1981 British animated television series
* ''Danger Mouse'' (2015 TV series), a 2015 reboot of the British animated television series
* Danger Mouse (musician) (born ...
was revealed to have contributed a song, while
Tobias Jesso Jr.
Tobias MacDonald Jesso Jr. (born July 11, 1985) is a Canadian musician from North Vancouver, British Columbia. His debut album '' Goon'' was released in 2015 on True Panther Sounds. He was included in ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list of the 20 ...
had written a track, and
Ryan Tedder was "back in the mix after producing and co-writing '
Rumour Has It' on ''21''."
At the
72nd Venice International Film Festival in early September 2015,
Sia announced that her new single "
Alive" was co-written by Adele, and had originally been intended for Adele's third album. On 18 October, a 30-second clip of new material from Adele was shown on UK television during a commercial break on ''
The X Factor''. The commercial teases a snippet from a new song from her third album, with viewers hearing a voice singing accompanied by lyrics on a black screen.
In a statement released three days later, Adele confirmed the album's title to be ''
25'', with her stating, "My last record was a break-up record, and if I had to label this one, I would call it a make-up record. Making up for lost time. Making up for everything I ever did and never did. ''25'' is about getting to know who I've become without realising. And I'm sorry it took so long but, you know, life happened."
At the time, Adele said ''25'' would be her last album titled after her age, believing it would be the end to a trilogy. On 22 October, Adele confirmed that ''25'' would be released on 20 November, while the lead single from the album, "
Hello" would be released on 23 October. The song was first played on
Nick Grimshaw
Nicholas Peter Andrew Grimshaw (born 14 August 1984), also known as Grimmy, is an English television and former radio presenter, podcaster and author. He became known for having hosted a variety of shows on BBC Radio 1. He is also known as a t ...
's ''
Radio 1 Breakfast Show
''Radio 1 Breakfast'' is a radio show that is broadcast across the UK on BBC Radio 1. It is hosted by Greg James since 20 August 2018 as the show's 16th presenter.
The show ran six days a week until February 1968 (seBBC Genome Project, then fi ...
'' on the BBC on the morning of 23 October with Adele interviewed live.
The video of "Hello", released on 22 October, was viewed over 27.7 million times on
YouTube in its first 24 hours, breaking the
Vevo record for the most views in a day, surpassing the 20.1 million views for "
Bad Blood" by
Taylor Swift. On 28 October, BBC News reported that "Hello" was being viewed on YouTube an average one million times an hour. "Hello" went on to become the fastest video to hit
one billion views on YouTube, which it achieved after 88 days. The video for "Hello" captured iconic British elements such as a
red telephone box and a cup of tea. The song debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart on 30 October, with first week sales of 330,000 copies, making it the biggest-selling number one single in three years. "Hello" also debuted at number one in many countries around the world, including Australia, France, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland and Germany, and on 2 November, the song debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, becoming the first song in the US to sell at least one million downloads in a week, setting the record at 1.11 million.
By the end of 2015, it had sold 12.3 million units globally and was the year's 7th-best-selling single despite being released in late October.
On 27 October,
BBC One announced plans for ''
Adele at the BBC
''Adele at the BBC'' (also known as ''Adele Live in London'' to some international markets) is a television special featuring British singer and songwriter Adele, hosted by Graham Norton for BBC One, and which was recorded at The London Stu ...
'', a one-hour special presented by
Graham Norton, in which Adele talks about her new album and performs new songs.
This was her first television appearance since performing at the 2013 Academy Awards ceremony, and the show was recorded before a live audience on 2 November for broadcast on 20 November, coinciding with the release of ''25''. On 27 October it was also announced that Adele would appear on the US entertainment series ''
Saturday Night Live'' on 21 November.
On 30 October, Adele confirmed that she would be performing a one-night-only concert titled ''
Adele Live in New York City
''Adele: Live in New York City'' was Adele's one-night-only show at Radio City Music Hall, which took place on November 17, 2015. The show was directed by Beth McCarthy-Miller and broadcast on NBC on December 14, 2015. Jimmy Fallon served as the ...
'' at the
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplac ...
on 17 November. Subsequently,
NBC aired the concert special on 14 December.
On 27 November, ''25'' debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart and became the
fastest selling album in UK chart history with over 800,000 copies sold in its first week. The album debuted at number one in the US where it sold a record-breaking 3.38 million copies in its first week, the largest single sales week for an album since Nielsen began monitoring sales in 1991. ''25'' also broke first week sales records in Canada and New Zealand. ''25'' became the best-selling album of 2015 in a number of countries, including Australia, the UK and the US, spending seven consecutive weeks at number one in each country, before being displaced by
David Bowie's ''
Blackstar
''Blackstar'' is an American animated science fantasy television series, produced in 1981 by Lou Scheimer and Norm Prescott for Filmation. The series was Filmation's second fantasy epic, the first being '' The Freedom Force'', a segment of ''T ...
''. It was the
best-selling album worldwide of 2015 with 17.4 million copies sold.
''25'' has since sold 20 million copies globally. Adele's seven weeks at the top of the UK Albums Chart took her total to 31 weeks at number one in the UK with her three albums, surpassing
Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
's previous record of most weeks at number one for a female act.
["Adele overtakes Madonna for the most weeks at Number 1 on the Official Album Chart"](_blank)
. Official Charts. Retrieved 18 January 2016. As the best-selling artist worldwide for 2015 the
IFPI named Adele the
Global Recording Artist of the Year.
In November 2015, Adele's 2016 tour was announced, her first tour since 2011. Beginning in Europe,
Adele Live 2016 included four dates at the
Manchester Arena in March 2016, six dates at the
O2 Arena O2 Arena may refer to:
*The O2 Arena (London)
*O2 Arena (Prague)
*The 3Arena
The 3Arena (originally The O2) is an indoor amphitheatre located at North Wall Quay in the Dublin Docklands in Dublin, Ireland. The venue opened as The O2 on 16 Decemb ...
, London, with further dates in Ireland, Spain, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands among others. Her North American Tour began on 5 July in
St. Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center o ...
. The leg included six nights at
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...
in New York City, eight nights at
Staples Center
Crypto.com Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Downtown Los Angeles. Adjacent to the L.A. Live development, it is located next to the Los Angeles Convention Center complex along Figueroa Street. The arena opened on October 17, 1999; it was ...
in Los Angeles, and four nights at
Air Canada Centre in Toronto.
Adele broke Taylor Swift's five-show record for most consecutive sold-out shows at the Staples Center.
At the
36th Brit Awards
Brit Awards 2016 was held on 24 February 2016 and was the 36th edition of the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The awards ceremony was held at The O2 Arena in London and were presented by Ant & Dec. Award nominations wer ...
in London on 24 February, Adele received the awards for
British Female Solo Artist,
British Album of the Year for ''25'',
British Single of the Year
The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...
for "Hello", and British Global Success, bringing her Brit Award wins to eight.
She closed the ceremony by performing "
When We Were Young", the second single from ''25''.
Two more singles from ''25'' were released in 2016: "
Send My Love (To Your New Lover)" and "
Water Under the Bridge
"Water Under the Bridge" is a song by English singer Adele from her third studio album '' 25'' (2015). Adele wrote the song with its producer, Greg Kurstin. Columbia Records released the track as the album's fourth single on 14 November 2016. ...
". While on stage at London's
O2 Arena on 17 March, Adele announced that she would be headlining on the Pyramid Stage at the
2016 Glastonbury Festival
The 2016 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts took place between 22 and 26 June.
Tickets
General Admission Tickets for the festival cost £228.
Weather
The weather was very wet on Wednesday 22 June with major traffic delays gett ...
, which was later confirmed by the festival's organisers. She appeared for a 90-minute fifteen song set at the festival on 25 June in front of 150,000 people, and described the experience as "by far, the best moment of my life so far".
In an interview with
Jo Whiley on
BBC Radio 2
BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...
around 30-minutes before going on stage, Adele had said she had been going to
Glastonbury since she was a child and that the festival had meant a lot to her, before she broke down. Whiley recalls, "She was really scared, really, really scared. We were doing the interview and at one point she had to stop as she was in tears. It was amazing to see somebody like that, then to witness her walking out on stage and doing the most incredible set. To know that half an hour before she'd been in tears at the thought of walking out there."
In 2016,
Vanity Fair magazine published a cover story which referred to Adele as the "Queen of Hearts".
As part of her world tour, in February and March 2017, Adele performed in Australia for the first time, playing outdoor stadiums around the country. Her first two shows in New Zealand sold out in a record-breaking 23 minutes, and a third show was announced, with all tickets sold in under 30 minutes. Adele sold over 600,000 tickets for her record-breaking eight date Australian tour, setting stadium records throughout the country; her Sydney show at
ANZ Stadium on 10 March was seen by 95,000 people, the biggest single concert in Australian history, a record she broke the following night with more than 100,000 fans.
Adele completed her world tour with two concerts, dubbed "The Finale", at
Wembley Stadium, London on 28 and 29 June.
She announced the shows at "the home of football" by singing the England football team's "
Three Lions" anthem and also the theme song to the BBC's weekly Premier League football show ''
Match of the Day''.
Adele had added another two concerts at Wembley after the first two dates sold out, however she cancelled the last two dates of the tour after damaging her vocal cords.
["Adele cancels final two Wembley shows"](_blank)
. BBC. Retrieved 1 July 2017 As a show of support, fans instead gathered outside Wembley Stadium to perform renditions of her songs, in an event titled "Sing for Adele".
At the end of 2016, ''Billboard'' named Adele Artist of the Year for the third time, and also received the Top ''Billboard'' 200 album. ''25'' was the best-selling album for a second consecutive year in the US. With 235 million views, Adele's
Carpool Karaoke through the streets of London with
James Corden
James Kimberley Corden (born 22 August 1978) is an English television host, actor, comedian, and singer. In the United Kingdom, he is best known for co-writing and starring in the critically acclaimed BBC sitcom ''Gavin & Stacey''. In the Un ...
, a sketch which featured on Corden's talk show ''
The Late Late Show with James Corden'' in January 2016, was the biggest YouTube viral video of 2016. At the
59th Annual Grammy Awards
The 59th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on February 12, 2017. The CBS network broadcast the show live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The ceremony recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, ...
in February 2017, Adele won all five of her nominations, bringing her number of awards to fifteen. She won
Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to:
Awards
* ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia
* Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK
* Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US
* Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA
* Lati ...
and
Best Pop Vocal Album for ''25'', and
Record of the Year,
Song of the Year Song of the Year may refer to:
* Country Music Association Award for Song of the Year
* Dove Award for Song of the Year
* Golden Melody Award for Song of the Year
* Grammis Song of the Year
* Grammy Award for Song of the Year
* Latin Grammy Awa ...
and
Best Pop Solo Performance for "Hello". She also performed a tribute to the late
George Michael
George Michael (born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou; 25 June 1963 – 25 December 2016) was an English singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the most significant cultural icons of the MTV generation and is one of the best-selling musici ...
singing the rendition of his song "
Fastlove
"Fastlove" is a song by English singer-songwriter George Michael, released on 22 April 1996 by Virgin Records in the United Kingdom and DreamWorks Records in the United States as the second single from his third album, ''Older'' (1996). Written ...
"; due to technical difficulties which occurred during the performance, Adele decided to stop and restart, explaining "I can't mess this up for him". As announced on 31 July 2017, Adele switched performance rights management in the US from
BMI to
SESAC
SESAC is a for-profit performance-rights organization in the United States. Founded in 1930 as the Society of European Stage Authors and Composers, it is the second-oldest performance-rights organization in the United States. .
2018–present: ''30'' and Weekends with Adele
Adele was reportedly working on her fourth studio album by 2018. On 5 May 2019, her 31st birthday, Adele posted several black-and-white pictures of herself on her Instagram account celebrating the occasion along with a message reflecting on the preceding year. The message ended with, "30 will be a
drum n bass record to spite you". Media outlets took the post as an indication that a new album was on the way. On 15 February 2020, Adele announced at a friend's wedding that her fourth studio album would be out by September 2020. However, she later confirmed that the album's production and release had been delayed due to the
COVID-19 pandemic. Adele made her first television appearance in almost four years by hosting the 24 October 2020 episode of ''
Saturday Night Live'', with musical guest
H.E.R.
Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson (born June 27, 1997), known professionally as H.E.R. (pronounced "her", an acronym for "Having Everything Revealed"), is an American singer, songwriter, musician and actress.
She has received several awards includin ...
On 1 October 2021, projections and billboards of the number "30" appeared on significant landmarks and buildings in different cities around the world, fuelling speculation that Adele was responsible, and that ''30'' would be the title of her fourth album. Soon after, Adele's website and social media accounts matched the aesthetic of the projections and billboards, hinting that her new album would be titled ''
30'', which was subsequently confirmed. On 5 October 2021, Adele announced her single "
Easy on Me
"Easy on Me" is a song by English singer Adele from her fourth studio album '' 30'' (2021). Adele wrote the song with its producer, Greg Kurstin. Columbia Records released it as the album's lead single on 15 October 2021. It is a minimally pr ...
" for release on 15 October. A release date of 19 November 2021 was announced for the album shortly thereafter. On 7 October, Adele was announced to be the November cover star on both ''
Vogue'' and ''
British Vogue'', the first person to simultaneously cover both publications at the same time. On 15 October, Adele released "Easy on Me" to a positive reception, breaking Spotify and Amazon Music records for most streams for a song in a day. The song debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, Adele's third UK number one, and had the highest first-week sales for a single since January 2017. Reaching the top of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, it is her fifth US number-one single. On 28 October 2021, pre-sale tickets for her two concerts in
Hyde Park, London, scheduled for 1 and 2 July 2022, sold out in less than an hour. The total number of tickets sold were 130,000, without prior promotion. More than 1,3 million people attempted to buy tickets for these two concerts. Jim King, CEO of the European Festivals division at
AEG
Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft AG (AEG; ) was a German producer of electrical equipment founded in Berlin as the ''Deutsche Edison-Gesellschaft für angewandte Elektricität'' in 1883 by Emil Rathenau. During the Second World War, AEG ...
stated that Adele "could have sold several million tickets to the shows, such is the demand for her".
''
30'' was released on 19 November 2021 and became a global success, reaching number one in 24 territories.
In the UK, the album debuted at number one on the
Official Albums Chart with 261,000 copies sold, garnering the largest opening week for an album since
Ed Sheeran's
''Divide'' in 2017, and also has the highest first-week sales for an album by a female artist since Adele's own ''25'', becoming the best-selling album of 2021 in the country. In the US, it was Adele's third consecutive
''Billboard'' 200 number-one album and
the year's best-seller as well. ''30'' was the
best-selling album of 2021 worldwide, topping the Global Album All-Format Chart, Global Album Sales Chart, and the newly created Global Vinyl Album Chart. The album shifted a total of 5 million pure copies within the year.
[ It was her first album to be marketed globally by ]Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
instead of being split between XL Recordings and Beggars Group's regional distribution partners in most of the world and Columbia in North America. On 30 November 2021, Adele announced a Las Vegas residency titled Weekends with Adele at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace that would have run from 21 January 2022 until 16 April 2022.
On 20 January 2022, she announced the Las Vegas residency was postponed due to "delivery delays and COVID
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...
". On 8 February 2022, ''30'' won British Album of the Year at the 42nd Brit Awards
Brit Awards 2022, presented by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), was held on 8 February 2022 to recognize the best in British and international music. The ceremony took place at The O2 Arena in London, and was hosted by British comedian ...
, making Adele the first solo artist in history to win the honour three times. On 25 July, it was announced the Las Vegas residency will run from 18 November 2022 to 25 March 2023, with eight more dates than initially planned, for a total of 32 concerts. On 3 September, Adele received a Primetime Emmy Award
The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...
for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) for her television special ''Adele One Night Only
''Adele One Night Only'' is a television special by English singer-songwriter Adele that aired on November 14, 2021, on CBS while being simulcast on Paramount+. At the 74th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards, ''Adele One Night Only'' earned a ...
''.
Artistry
Influences and favourite musicians
Adele has cited the Spice Girls
The Spice Girls are a British girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Melanie Brown, also known as Mel B ("Scary Spice"); Melanie Chisholm, or Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"); Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"); Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"); and Vict ...
as a major influence in regard to her love and passion for music, stating that "they made me what I am today". During childhood, she impersonated the Spice Girls at dinner parties. She says she was "heartbroken" when her favourite Spice Girls member, Geri Halliwell aka "Ginger Spice", departed from the group. Lauryn Hill is also one of her major influences. In a 2011 interview, Adele deemed Hill's record '' The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill'' as her favourite album, while also stating "I was analyzing the record for about a month at the age of 8, I was constantly wondering when I would be that passionate about something, to write a record about it, even though I didn't know I was going to make a record when I was older"; while also thanking Hill "for existing" in a penned letter, that she dedicated in honour of the 20th anniversary of Hill's album. Growing up she also listened to Sinéad O'Connor
Shuhada Sadaqat (born Sinéad Marie Bernadette O'Connor on 8 December 1966; ) is an Irish singer-songwriter. Her debut album, ''The Lion and the Cobra'', was released in 1987 and charted internationally. Her second album, ''I Do Not Want What ...
, the Cranberries, Bob Marley, the Cure, Dusty Springfield, Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Referred to as the " Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed ninth in ''Rolling Stone''s "100 Greatest Artists of All Time". With ...
, Celine Dion, Jeff Buckley, and Annie Lennox
Ann Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the New wave music, new wave band the Tourists, she and fellow musician D ...
. Gabrielle was an early influence, whom Adele has admired since age five. During Adele's school years, her mother made her an eye patch with sequins which she used to perform as the Hackney-born star in a school talent contest.
After moving to south London, she became interested in R&B acts such as Aaliyah
Aaliyah Dana Haughton (; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer and actress. She has been credited for helping to redefine contemporary R&B, pop and hip hop, earning her the nicknames the "Princess of R&B" and " ...
, Destiny's Child
Destiny's Child was an American girl group whose final line-up comprised Beyoncé Knowles, Kelly Rowland, and Michelle Williams. The group began their musical career as Girl's Tyme, formed in 1990 in Houston, Texas. After years of limited ...
, Mary J. Blige
Mary Jane Blige ( ; born January 11, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Often referred to as the " Queen of Hip-Hop Soul" and " Queen of R&B", Blige has won nine Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, four American Music Award ...
, and Alicia Keys. Adele has stated that one of the most defining moments in her life was when she saw Pink perform at Brixton Academy in London. She says: "It was the '' Missundaztood'' record, so I was about 13 or 14. I had never heard, being in the room, someone sing like that live ..I remember sort of feeling like I was in a wind tunnel, her voice just hitting me. It was incredible."
In 2002, 14-year-old Adele discovered Etta James
Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer who performed in various genres, including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, rock and roll, and soul. Starting her career in 1954, sh ...
and Ella Fitzgerald as she stumbled on the artists' CDs in the jazz section of her local music store. She was struck by their appearance on the album covers. Adele states she then "started listening to Etta James every night for an hour," and in the process was getting "to know my own voice." She has credited Amy Winehouse and her 2003 album '' Frank'' with inspiring her to take up the guitar, saying: "If it wasn't for Amy and ''Frank'', one hundred per cent I wouldn't have picked up a guitar, I wouldn't have written 'Daydreamer' or 'Hometown lory
Loriini is a tribe of small to medium-sized arboreal parrots characterized by their specialized brush-tipped tongues for feeding on nectar of various blossoms and soft fruits, preferably berries. The species form a monophyletic group within the ...
and I wrote 'Someone Like You' on the guitar too."
She has also expressed admiration for Lana Del Rey, Grimes
Claire Elise Boucher (; born March 17, 1988), known professionally as Grimes, is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Her early work has been described as extending from "lo-fi R&B" to futuristic dance-pop, and has in ...
, Chvrches
Chvrches (stylised CHVRCHΞS and pronounced "Churches") are a Scottish pop band from Glasgow, formed in September 2011. The band consists of Lauren Mayberry, Iain Cook, Martin Doherty and, unofficially since 2018, Jonny Scott. Mostly deriving f ...
, FKA Twigs
Tahliah Debrett Barnett (born 17 January 1988), known professionally as FKA Twigs (stylized as FKA twigs), is an English singer, songwriter, and dancer. Born and raised in Cheltenham, she became a backup dancer for numerous famous musicians aft ...
, Alabama Shakes, Kanye West, Rihanna
Robyn Rihanna Fenty ( ; born February 20, 1988) is a Barbadian singer, actress, and businesswoman. Born in Saint Michael and raised in Bridgetown, Barbados, Rihanna auditioned for American record producer Evan Rogers who invited her to the ...
, Britney Spears
Britney Jean Spears (born December 2, 1981) is an American singer. Often referred to as the " Princess of Pop", she is credited with influencing the revival of teen pop during the late 1990s and early 2000s. After appearing in stage productio ...
, Frank Ocean, Queen, and Stevie Nicks
Stephanie Lynn Nicks (born May 26, 1948) is an American singer, songwriter, and producer known for her work with the band Fleetwood Mac and as a solo artist.
After starting her career as a duo with her then-boyfriend Lindsey Buckingham, releasi ...
. In 2017, she described Beyoncé
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...
as a particular inspiration, calling her " heartist of my life" and added "the other artists who mean that much to me are all dead." Adele cited Madonna
Madonna Louise Ciccone (; ; born August 16, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Widely dubbed the " Queen of Pop", Madonna has been noted for her continual reinvention and versatility in music production, songwriting, a ...
's 1998 album '' Ray of Light'' as a " chief inspiration" for her album ''25''. She stated that the release of ''25'' and her own comeback was inspired by the enigmatic Kate Bush who in 2014 made a comeback to the stage 35 years after her last live shows from her only tour in 1979. Adele mentioned that Max Martin's work on Taylor Swift's " I Knew You Were Trouble" was the inspiration behind her song " Send My Love (To Your New Lover)", saying: "I was like, 'Who did this?' I knew it was Taylor, and I've always loved her, but this is a totally other side – like, 'I want to know who brought that out in her.' I was unaware that I knew who Max Martin was. I Googled him, and I was like, 'He's literally written every massive soundtrack of my life.' So I got my management to reach out. They came to London, and I took my guitar along and was like, 'I've got this riff,' and then 'Send My Love' happened really quickly."
Musical style
Adele's debut album, ''19'', is of the soul genre, with lyrics addressing heartbreak and relationship. Her success occurred simultaneously with several other British female soul singers, with the British press dubbing her a new Amy Winehouse. This was described as a third British Musical Invasion of the US. However, Adele called the comparisons between her and other female soul singers lazy, noting "we're a gender, not a genre". AllMusic wrote that "Adele is simply too magical to compare her to anyone."
Her second album, ''21'', shares the folk and soul influences of her debut album, but was further inspired by American country and Southern blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
music to which she had been exposed during her 2008–09 tour An Evening with Adele
An Evening with Adele was the debut concert tour by English singer-songwriter Adele, in support of her debut studio album, ''19 (Adele album), 19''. The tour was unusual in that it included few dates in the United Kingdom, Adele's home country ...
in North America. Conceived in the aftermath of Adele's breakup with a partner, the album typifies the near dormant tradition of the confessional singer-songwriter in its exploration of heartbreak, self-examination, and forgiveness. Having referred to ''21'' as a "break-up record", Adele labelled her third studio album, ''25'', a "make-up record", adding it is about "Making up for lost time. Making up for everything I ever did and never did." Her yearning for her old self, her nostalgia, and melancholy about the passage of time, is a feature of ''25'', with Adele stating, "I've had a lot of regrets since I turned 25. And sadness hits me in different ways than it used to. There's a lot of things I don't think I'll ever get 'round to doing."
Voice
Adele is a mezzo-soprano
A mezzo-soprano or mezzo (; ; meaning "half soprano") is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A below middle C ...
, with a range
Range may refer to:
Geography
* Range (geographic), a chain of hills or mountains; a somewhat linear, complex mountainous or hilly area (cordillera, sierra)
** Mountain range, a group of mountains bordered by lowlands
* Range, a term used to i ...
spanning from B2 to C6. However Classic FM states she is often mistaken for a contralto due to the application of a tense chest mix to reach the lower notes, while also noting that her voice becomes its clearest as she ascends the register, particularly from C4 to C5. ''Rolling Stone'' reported that following throat surgery her voice had become "palpably bigger and purer-toned", and that she had added a further four notes to the top of her range. Initially, critics suggested that her vocals were more developed and intriguing than her songwriting, a sentiment with which Adele agreed. She has stated: "I taught myself how to sing by listening to Ella Fitzgerald for acrobatics and scales, Etta James
Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer who performed in various genres, including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, rock and roll, and soul. Starting her career in 1954, sh ...
for passion and Roberta Flack for control."
Adele's singing has received acclaim from music critics. In a review of ''19'', ''The Observer'' stated, "The way she stretched the vowels, her wonderful soulful phrasing, the sheer unadulterated pleasure of her voice, stood out all the more; little doubt that she's a rare singer". BBC Music wrote, "Her melodies exude warmth, her singing is occasionally stunning and, ...she has tracks that make Lily Allen and Kate Nash sound every bit as ordinary as they are." Also in 2008, Sylvia Patterson of ''The Guardian'' wrote, "Of all the gobby new girls, only Adele's bewitching singing voice has the enigmatic quality which causes tears of involuntary emotion to splash down your face in the way Eva Cassidy's did before her." For their reviews of ''21'', ''The New York Times'' chief music critic Jon Pareles commended Adele's emotive timbre, likening her to Dusty Springfield, Petula Clark, and Annie Lennox
Ann Lennox (born 25 December 1954) is a Scottish singer-songwriter, political activist and philanthropist. After achieving moderate success in the late 1970s as part of the New wave music, new wave band the Tourists, she and fellow musician D ...
: " delecan seethe, sob, rasp, swoop, lilt and belt, in ways that draw more attention to the song than to the singer". Ryan Reed of '' Paste'' magazine regarded her voice as "a raspy, aged-beyond-its-years thing of full-blooded beauty", while MSN Music's Tom Townshend called her "the finest singer of urgeneration". Adele has also been dubbed a "vocal goddess".
Personal life
In 2011, Adele began a relationship with charity entrepreneur Simon Konecki. Their son was born on 19 October 2012. On the topic of becoming a parent, Adele said she "felt like I was truly living. I had a purpose, where before I didn't". Adele and Konecki brought a privacy case against a UK-based photo agency that published intrusive paparazzi images of their son taken during family outings in 2013. Lawyers working on their behalf accepted damages from the company in July 2014. Adele has also opened up about suffering from postnatal depression
Postpartum depression (PPD), also called postnatal depression, is a type of mood disorder associated with childbirth, which can affect both sexes. Symptoms may include extreme sadness, low energy, anxiety, crying episodes, irritability, and chan ...
, anxiety, and panic attacks.
In early 2017, tabloids started speculating that Adele and Konecki had secretly married when they were spotted wearing matching rings on their ring fingers. During her acceptance speech at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards
The 59th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on February 12, 2017. The CBS network broadcast the show live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The ceremony recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, ...
for Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to:
Awards
* ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia
* Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK
* Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US
* Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA
* Lati ...
, Adele seemed to have confirmed these reports by referring to Konecki as "my husband" when thanking him. She repeated this in March 2017, telling the audience at a concert in Brisbane, Australia, "I'm married now". However, in a 2021 interview with '' British Vogue'', she revealed that they actually married in 2018, and separated the same year. During this time, Adele became a stay-at-home mother. In April 2019, Adele's representatives confirmed the separation via Associated Press, and affirmed that she and Konecki would continue to raise their son together. On 13 September 2019, it was reported that Adele had filed for divorce from Konecki in the US. Their divorce was finalised on 4 March 2021. In 2021, Adele entered a relationship with American sports agent Rich Paul.
Politically, she is a supporter of the Labour Party, saying in 2011 that she was a "Labour girl through and through", and in the same interview was critical of the Conservative Party
The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right.
Political parties called The Conservative P ...
. Despite this declared political alignment, Adele received backlash for her comments on paying taxes during a 2011 interview with '' Q'' magazine. She said, "I use the NHS, I can't use public transport any more, doing what I do, I went to state school, I'm mortified to have to pay 50 percent! Trains are always late, most state schools are shit and I've gotta give you like four million quid, are you having a laugh? When I got my tax bill in from ''19'' I was ready to go and buy a gun and randomly open fire."
Born in the North London district of Tottenham, Adele supports local football club Tottenham Hotspur.
In 2015, Adele said, "I'm a feminist
Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...
, I believe that everyone should be treated the same, including race and sexuality". Supportive of the LGBT community
The LGBT community (also known as the LGBTQ+ community, GLBT community, gay community, or queer community) is a loosely defined grouping of lesbian, gay men, gay, bisexuality, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a comm ...
, on 12 June 2016, an emotional Adele dedicated her show in Antwerp, Belgium, to the victims of the mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, United States, earlier that day, adding, "The LGBTQ community, they're like my soul mates since I was really young, so I'm very moved by it."
In April 2018, it was widely reported that Adele had become an ordained minister in order to officiate at close friend comedian Alan Carr's wedding to Paul Drayton, something which Adele herself subsequently confirmed. The wedding, held in January 2018, took place in the garden of her house in Los Angeles, California. Adele's close friends include Nicole Richie
Nicole Camille Richie (; born September 21, 1981) is an American television personality, fashion designer, socialite, and actress. She came to prominence after appearing in the reality television series ''The Simple Life'' (2003–2007), in whic ...
, Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Shrader Lawrence (born August 15, 1990) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2015 and 2016, her films have grossed over $6 billion worldwide to date. She appeared in ''Time''s 100 most influential people i ...
, Cameron Diaz, Emma Stone
Emily Jean Stone (born November 6, 1988), known professionally as Emma Stone, is an American actress. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Golden Globe Award. In 2017, she ...
, Laura Dockrill, Lauren
Lauren may be a given name or surname.The name's meaning may be "laurel tree", "sweet of honor", or "wisdom". It is derived from the French name Laurence, a feminine version of Laurent, which is in turn derived from the Roman surname Laurentius. ...
and Aaron Paul, James Corden
James Kimberley Corden (born 22 August 1978) is an English television host, actor, comedian, and singer. In the United Kingdom, he is best known for co-writing and starring in the critically acclaimed BBC sitcom ''Gavin & Stacey''. In the Un ...
, and Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...
, among others. Drake called Adele "One of isbest friends in the world".
Wealth
In 2012, Adele topped the List of Richest Young Musicians under 30 in the UK, included on the ''Sunday Times Rich List
The ''Sunday Times Rich List'' is a list of the 1,000 wealthiest people or families resident in the United Kingdom ranked by net wealth. The list is updated annually in April and published as a magazine supplement by British national Sunday news ...
''. In July 2012, she was listed at number six in '' Forbes'' list of the world's highest-paid celebrities under the age of 30, having earned million between May 2011 and May 2012. For six consecutive years, from 2013 to 2018, Adele topped the List of Richest Young Musicians under 30 in the UK and Ireland as part of the ''Sunday Times'' annual ''Rich List''. In 2015, Adele said she declined all sorts of lucrative endorsement offers out of personal choice. In 2015, she reported paying £4 million tax in the UK. In July 2016, Adele was ranked number nine on the ''Forbes'' list of the 100 highest-paid celebrities in the world. In November 2016 and November 2017, she was in second place on the ''Forbes'' list of the world's highest-paid women in music, earning million and $69 million, respectively. The ''Sunday Times Rich List'' valued her wealth at £125 million in 2017, and she was ranked the 19th UK's richest musician overall whilst being the only woman in the top 20. Adele owns and operates two companies, Melted Stone Ltd and Melted Stone Publishing. In 2017, she earned $11.2 million in royalties
A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...
from record sales, after taxes, according to official documents from her companies, without any new album release at the time, and whilst spending her time off. On the 2019 ''Sunday Times Rich List'', Adele was valued at £150 million (US$180.5 million) as the 22nd richest musician in the UK, despite not having toured since 2017.
In 2012, Adele and then-partner Konecki purchased a $3.4 million Art Deco villa in Portslade, on the outskirts of Brighton and Hove, which she sold for $3.7 million in 2016. That same year, she bought two houses built side-by-side in Kensington
Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London.
The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...
for $7.7 million and $7.3 million, respectively, with the intention of combining them. Adele also bought a home for her mother in West London for around $817,000. In 2013, she temporarily rented Paul McCartney's former mansion for an undisclosed price. In 2015, Adele purchased a $5.2 million Mediterranean-style vacation mansion in Malibu, California, and sold it in 2017 for less than its original purchase price, $4.8 million. She envisioned buying several properties on the same street in a Beverly Hills gated community
A gated community (or walled community) is a form of residential community or housing estate containing strictly controlled entrances for pedestrians, bicycles, and automobiles, and often characterized by a closed perimeter of walls and fences ...
, beginning with the first home purchased for $9.5 million from Don Mischer in 2016. During her Madison Square Garden tour in September 2016, Adele rented NBA player Deron Williams' Tribeca apartment for three weeks at a monthly rent of $60,000. In 2017, she and Konecki purchased a $5.3 million Tudor mansion called Ridge Hill Manor, located in the English countryside on the outskirts of East Grinstead
East Grinstead is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the extreme northeast of the county, the civ ...
. In 2019 and 2021, Adele bought two more Beverly Hills mansions for $10.65 million and $10 million, respectively; the latter was purchased from Richie and her husband, Joel Madden. In February 2022, it was reported she bought Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Enzio Stallone (; born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, ) is an American actor and filmmaker. After his beginnings as a struggling actor for a number of years upon arriving to New York City in 1969 and later Hollywood in 1974, h ...
's former mansion in Beverly Park, Los Angeles, for $58 million.
Philanthropy
Adele has performed in numerous charity concerts throughout her career. In 2007 and 2008, she performed at the Little Noise Sessions {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022
The Little Noise Sessions was a series of acoustic charity concerts held annually at the Union Chapel, and at St. John at Hackney from 2011 in November, although one was held in Exeter in December 2009. The procee ...
held at London's Union Chapel, with proceeds from the concerts donated to Mencap which works with people with learning disabilities.[ Caroline Sanderson (2013). Someone Like Adele". Chapter 4. p. 1. Music Sales Group.] In July and November 2008, Adele performed at the Keep a Child Alive
Keep a Child Alive (KCA) is a nonprofit organization that provides healthcare, housing, and other support services to HIV/AIDS-affected communities in Africa and India. Co-founded by Leigh Blake and Alicia Keys, the organization aims to "realize ...
Black Ball in London and New York City respectively. On 17 September 2009, she performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music
The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a performing arts venue in Brooklyn, New York City, known as a center for progressive and avant-garde performance. It presented its first performance in 1861 and began operations in its present location in ...
, for the VH1
VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...
''Divas'' event, a concert to raise money for the Save The Music Foundation
VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Communic ...
charity. On 6 December, Adele opened with a 40-minute set at John Mayer
John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Born and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Mayer attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but left and moved to Atlanta in 1997 with ...
's 2nd Annual Holiday Charity Revue held at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. In 2011, Adele gave a free concert for Pride London
Pride in London is an annual LGBT pride festival and Pride parade, parade held each summer in London, England. The event, which was formerly run by Pride London, is sometimes referred to as London Pride.
Pride in London celebrates the diversit ...
, a registered charity which arranges LGBT events in London. The same year, Adele took part in the UK charity telethon Comic Relief for Red Nose Day 2011, performing "Someone like You".
Adele has been a major contributor to MusiCares, a charity organisation founded by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences for musicians in need. In February 2009, Adele performed at the 2009 MusiCares charity concert in Los Angeles. In 2011 and 2012, Adele donated autographed items for auctions to support MusiCares. Adele required all backstage visitors to the North American leg of her Adele Live
Adele Live was the second concert tour by English singer-songwriter Adele. She visited Europe and North America, the tour supported her second studio album, '' 21''. Adele was backed by a five-piece band and backing singers, whilst for some so ...
tour to donate a minimum charitable contribution of US$20 for the UK charity SANDS, an organisation dedicated to "supporting anyone affected by the death of a baby and promoting research to reduce the loss of babies' lives".
On 15 June 2017, Adele attended a vigil in west London for the victims of the Grenfell Tower fire
On 14 June 2017, a high-rise fire broke out in the 24-storey Grenfell Tower block of flats in North Kensington, West London, at 00:54 BST and burned for 60 hours. 72 people died, two later in hospital, with more than 70 injured and 223 escapin ...
where, keeping a low profile, she was only spotted by a handful of fans. Four days later she appeared at Chelsea fire station and brought cakes for the firefighters. Station manager Ben King stated "She came in, came up to the mess and had a cup of tea with the watch and then she joined us for the minute's silence." Paying tribute to the victims at her first Wembley show on 28 June, Adele encouraged fans to donate money to help the victims of the blaze rather than waste the money on "overpriced wine".
Impact
Adele has been referred to as the " Queen of Hearts" by publications such as '' Vogue'' and '' Vanity Fair'', while the '' Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' has called her "Queen of Soul" for her early success as a soul singer-songwriter. In 2014, Adele was already being regarded as a British cultural icon, with young adults from abroad naming her among a group of people whom they most associated with UK culture, which included William Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth II, David Beckham
David Robert Joseph Beckham (; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the current president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Known for his range of passing, crossing ability and bending fr ...
, J. K. Rowling, The Beatles, Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...
and Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...
.
Richard Russell, the founder of record label XL Recordings, complimented Adele that she had the potential to change the way women were seen in the music industry
The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...
by focusing on music rather than sexuality. '' The New Yorker'' called her "the most popular living soul singer in the world" at 27-years-old. Writing for ''Vulture'', Jillian Mapes opined that Adele is "among the first plus-size female cultural icons to reach the highest echelons of commercial success without having to make herself the butt of fat jokes along the way". '' Time'' journalist Sam Lansky
Sam Lansky (born September 23, 1988)Connelly, Sherryl (January 14, 2016)"Time magazine culture editor Sam Lansky reveals his wild days in new memoir 'The Gilded Razor'. ''NEW YORK DAILY NEWS''. Retrieved April 6, 2017. is an American journalist, a ...
described her as "a voice for every generation" and further stated that "Adele bridges pop music's past and its future". Lansky wrote that Adele, by choosing to sound like the past, goes in an opposite direction in mainstream music when her contemporaries "try to sound simultaneously like each other" and follow trends. ''Billboard'' credited Adele for reviving the music industry in 2011, the year of '' 21''s release, and wrote: "She was a unique presence not only in 2011, but in all of 21st century pop: a preternaturally gifted singer and songwriter with a leave-it-all-on-the-floor approach to recording and performing — and also an earthy, relatable, and strangely unassuming personality both on and off the stage". ''Junkee
Junkee is an Australian popular culture and news website run by new media company Junkee Media. It covers various topics including film, university, food, TV, politics, travel, career, health and Internet culture. Its target demographic is 18- to ...
'' and '' Consequence of Sound'' credited her for revitalizing pop music and heralding "a new era of relatable pop" due to the critical and commercial success of ''21''. In an article about how music from 2011 defined pop music, ''Junkee
Junkee is an Australian popular culture and news website run by new media company Junkee Media. It covers various topics including film, university, food, TV, politics, travel, career, health and Internet culture. Its target demographic is 18- to ...
'' also credited Adele for reviving the breakup ballad music, paving the way for young artists like Olivia Rodrigo to utilize some elements of pop ballads that she did into their own music. In a 2021 article from '' The Daily Telegraph'', James Hall wrote that "a new Adele album isn't just a release − it's a global cultural event". '' Rolling Stone'' writers observed that "She has written more modern pop standards than anyone else in her generation, each single becoming an instant classic."
''Consequence of Sound'' ranked Adele at number 34 on its list of The 100 Greatest Singers of All Time, describing her voice as "athletic and authentic" and "an unapologetic powerhouse with a knack for tone and an ability to imbue her performances with genuine emotion". In 2019, Insider listed her among the top artists of the decade, and wrote: "Her artistry and style broke through in a time of ultra club-happy pop music, and paved the way for other artists to break the mold". In 2022, she has been ranked number 8 on Yardbarker
Yardbarker is a digital media property focused on the publishing of sports and entertainment news and information. Founded in 2006, the property distributes content on Yardbarker.com, social media platforms and via third party syndication partne ...
's The Greatest Singing Voices of All Time list. Adele and her work have influenced numerous recording artists, including Beyoncé
Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Beyoncé's boundary-pushing artistry and vocals have made her the most influential female musician of the 21st century, according to ...
, Lauren Daigle, Billie Eilish, Rebecca Ferguson, Jess Glynne, Conan Gray, Freya Ridings, Sigrid, Sam Smith, and Tom Walker.
Accolades and achievements
Adele has sold more than 170 million records worldwide with 70 million in album sales and over 100 million in single sales as of 2022, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists. She is one of the artists who bring the most revenue to the music industry per day.
At the 51st Annual Grammy Awards
The 51st Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, on February 8, 2009, honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2007, through September 30, 2008. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were the b ...
in 2009, 21-year-old Adele won awards in the categories of Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. She was also nominated in the categories of Record of the Year and Song of the Year Song of the Year may refer to:
* Country Music Association Award for Song of the Year
* Dove Award for Song of the Year
* Golden Melody Award for Song of the Year
* Grammis Song of the Year
* Grammy Award for Song of the Year
* Latin Grammy Awa ...
. The success of her debut album ''19'' saw Adele nominated for three Brit Awards in the categories of British Female Solo Artist, British Single of the Year
The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...
and British Breakthrough Act
The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...
. Then British Prime Minister Gordon Brown sent a thank-you letter to Adele that stated "with the troubles that the country's in financially, you're a light at the end of the tunnel".
Adele's second album, ''21'', earned her a record-tying six Grammy Awards
The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...
, including Album of the Year Album of the Year, often abbreviated to AOTY, may refer to:
Awards
* ARIA Award for Album of the Year, Australia
* Brit Award for British Album of the Year, UK
* Grammy Award for Album of the Year, US
* Juno Award for Album of the Year, CA
* Lati ...
; two Brit Awards, including British Album of the Year. Adele was the second artist and first female, preceded by Christopher Cross
Christopher Cross (born Christopher Charles Geppert; May 3, 1951) is an American singer-songwriter from San Antonio, Texas.
He won five Grammy Awards for his eponymous debut album released in 1979. The singles "Sailing" (1980), and "Arthur's T ...
, to have won all four of the general field General Field may refer to:
* Burton M. Field (fl. 1970s–2010s), U.S. Air Force lieutenant general
* Charles W. Field (1828–1892), Confederate States Army major general
* Chris Field (general) (fl. 1980s–2020s), Australian Army major general
...
awards throughout her career. The success of the album saw her receive numerous mentions in the ''Guinness Book of World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
.'' With 21 non-consecutive weeks at number 1 in the US, Adele broke the record for the longest number-1 album by a woman in ''Billboard'' history, beating the record formerly held by Whitney Houston's soundtrack ''The Bodyguard
A bodyguard is an individual who protects another from harm or threats.
Bodyguard may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Films
* The Bodyguard (1944 film), ''The Bodyguard'' (1944 film), a Tom and Jerry short
* Bodyguard (1948 film), ...
''. ''21'' spent its 23rd week at number one in March 2012, making it the longest-running album at number one since 1985, and it became the fourth-best-selling album of the past 10 years in the US. The best selling album in the UK of the 21st century, and the best selling album by a female in UK chart history, ''21'' is also the second-best-selling album in the UK of all time. ''21'' was her first album certified diamond in the US. On 6 March, ''21'' reached 30 non-consecutive weeks at number one on the Australian ARIA Chart, making it the longest-running number one album in Australia in the 21st century, and the second longest-running number one ever.
In May 2011, "Team Adele" was ranked number one on '' The Guardian''s "Music Power 100" list: "the 100 most influential people in the music industry". In February 2012, Adele was listed at number five on VH1
VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...
's 100 Greatest Women in Music. In April 2012, '' Time'' magazine named Adele one of the 100 most influential people in the world
''Time'' 100 (often stylized as ''TIME'' 100) is an annual listicle of the 100 most influential people in the world, assembled by the American news magazine ''Time''. First published in 1999 as the result of a debate among American academics, po ...
. '' People'' named her one of 2012 Most Beautiful at Every Age. On 30 April 2012, a tribute to Adele was held at New York City's (Le) Poisson Rouge
(Le) Poisson Rouge (often referred to as LPR) is a music venue and multimedia art cabaret in New York City founded in 2008 by Justin Kantor and David Handler on the former site of the Village Gate at 158 Bleecker Street. The performance space was ...
called ''Broadway Sings Adele'', starring various Broadway actors such as Matt Doyle.
In the week ending 3 March 2012, Adele became the first solo female artist to have three singles in the top 10 of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at the same time with "Rolling in the Deep", "Someone Like You", and "Set Fire to the Rain" as well as the first female artist to have two albums in the top 5 of the ''Billboard'' 200 and two singles in the top 5 of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 simultaneously. Adele topped the 2012 ''Sunday Times Rich List
The ''Sunday Times Rich List'' is a list of the 1,000 wealthiest people or families resident in the United Kingdom ranked by net wealth. The list is updated annually in April and published as a magazine supplement by British national Sunday news ...
'' of musicians in the UK under 30, and made the Top 10 of ''Billboard'' magazine's "Top 40 Money Makers". ''Billboard'' also announced the same day that Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" is the biggest crossover hit of the past 25 years, topping pop, adult pop and adult contemporary charts and that Adele is one of four female artists to have an album chart at number one for more than 13 weeks (the other three artists being Judy Garland, Carole King
Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician who has been active since 1958, initially as one of the staff songwriters at 1650 Broadway and later as a solo artist. Regarded as one ...
, and Whitney Houston).
At the 2012 Ivor Novello Awards in May, Adele was named Songwriter of the Year, and " Rolling in the Deep" won the award for Most Performed Work of 2011. At the 2012 BMI Awards held in London in October, Adele won Song of the Year (for "Rolling in the Deep") in recognition of the song being the most played on US television and radio in 2011. In 2013, Adele won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for the James Bond theme " Skyfall". This is the first James Bond song to win and the fifth to be nominated—after " For Your Eyes Only" (1981), "Nobody Does It Better
"Nobody Does It Better" is a power ballad and the theme song
Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequenc ...
" (1977), " Live and Let Die" (1973), and " The Look of Love" (1967). "Skyfall" won the Brit Award for Best British Single at the 33rd Brit Awards
Brit Awards 2013 was held on 20 February 2013. This was the 33rd edition of the British Phonographic Industry's annual Brit Awards. The awards ceremony was held at The O2 Arena in London, and was presented for the third time in three years by ...
.
In June 2013, Adele was appointed a MBE Mbe may refer to:
* Mbé, a town in the Republic of the Congo
* Mbe Mountains Community Forest, in Nigeria
* Mbe language, a language of Nigeria
* Mbe' language, language of Cameroon
* ''mbe'', ISO 639 code for the extinct Molala language
Molal ...
in the Queen's Birthday Honours list
The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are present ...
for services to music, and she received the award from Prince Charles
Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...
at Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...
on 19 December 2013. In February 2013 she was named one of the 100 most powerful women in the UK by '' Woman's Hour'' on BBC Radio 4.
Released in 2015, Adele's third album, ''25'', became the year's best-selling album and broke first week sales records in a number of markets, including the UK and the US. ''25'' was her second album to be certified diamond in the US and earned her five Grammy Awards, including her second Grammy Award for Album of the Year, and four Brit Awards, including her second Brit Award for British Album. Adele became the only artist in history to, on two separate occasions, win the three general categories Grammys in the same ceremony. With 15 awards from 18 nominations, Adele won more Grammys than any other female who was born outside the US. Adele's seven weeks at the top of the UK Albums Chart took her total to 31 weeks at number one in the UK with her three albums, surpassing Madonna's previous record of most weeks at number one for a female act in the UK. The lead single, "Hello", became the first song in the US to sell over one million digital copies within a week of its release.
At the 2016 Ivor Novello Awards Adele was named Songwriter of the Year for the second time by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors. In April 2016 she appeared for the second time on the '' Time'' 100 list of the world's most influential people. Adele was inducted into the Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...
's Walk of Fame in 2018, making her one of the first eleven recipients of a star on the walk. Despite releasing just two albums in the decade (''21'' and ''25''), at 36 weeks she had the second most weeks at number one in the UK Album Charts in the 2010s, five weeks behind Ed Sheeran (who released four albums). In December 2019, Israel's largest TV and radio stations named her singer of the 2010s.
In 2021, Adele was named the UK's best-selling female album artist of the 21st century, based on Official Charts Company data. In May 2022, '' Time'' magazine named her for the third time among the 100 most influential people in the world in the "icons" category. As Adele has won Emmy, Grammy, and Oscar Awards, it makes her a Tony Award away from achieving EGOT status as of 2022.
Discography
* '' 19'' (2008)
* '' 21'' (2011)
* '' 25'' (2015)
* '' 30'' (2021)
Filmography
Concert tours and residencies
Headlining concerts
* An Evening with Adele
An Evening with Adele was the debut concert tour by English singer-songwriter Adele, in support of her debut studio album, ''19 (Adele album), 19''. The tour was unusual in that it included few dates in the United Kingdom, Adele's home country ...
(2008–2009)
* Adele Live
Adele Live was the second concert tour by English singer-songwriter Adele. She visited Europe and North America, the tour supported her second studio album, '' 21''. Adele was backed by a five-piece band and backing singers, whilst for some so ...
(2011)
* Adele Live 2016 (2016–2017)
Residency
* Weekends with Adele (2022–2023)
See also
* List of best-selling music artists – Artists with sales of over 120 million records worldwide
* List of British Grammy winners and nominees
The following is a list of Grammy Awards winners and nominees from the United Kingdom.
Amongst the winners, Paul McCartney and Adele are the most honoured male and female British artists respectively. Adele also is the most awarded female foreign a ...
* List of one-word stage names
* Honorific nicknames in popular music
* List of ''Billboard'' Social 50 number-one artists
* List of artists who reached number one in the United States
* Best-selling female artists of all time
The following is a list of the world's best-selling female music artists of all time. The criteria for inclusion are women whose claimed record sales have at least reached 75 million or more of their musical productions. Artists are listed in o ...
* List of most-streamed artists on Spotify
References
Sources and bibliography
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External links
* – official site
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Adele
at Grammys
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1988 births
21st-century English singers
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