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
The BRIT School is a British performing and creative arts school located in Selhurst, Croydon, England, with a mandate to provide education and vocational training for the performing arts, music, music technology, theatre, musical theatre, dan ...
in 2006, Adele signed a record deal with
XL Recordings
XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes. It has been ran and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group.
Although only releasing an average of six alb ...
. Her debut album, ''
19'', was released in 2008 and spawned the UK top-five singles "
Chasing Pavements
"Chasing Pavements" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter Adele for her debut studio album, '' 19'' (2008). Written by Adele with its producer Eg White, the song was released as the second single from the album on 14 January 2008. I ...
" and "
Make You Feel My Love
"Make You Feel My Love", also known as "To Make You Feel My Love" is a song written by Bob Dylan for his album '' Time Out of Mind'', released in September 1997. It was first released commercially in August 1997 by Billy Joel for his compilation ...
". The album was certified
8× platinum in the UK and
triple platinum
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
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
The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since 1959. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for records released in the previous year. The award was not presented in 1967. The official guidelines are as ...
.
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
Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...
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 advertis ...
'', ''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
"Rolling in the Deep" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter Adele for her second studio album, '' 21'' (2011). It is the lead single and opening track on the album. The song was written by Adele and Paul Epworth. The singer herself des ...
", "
Someone Like You", and "
Set Fire to the Rain
"Set Fire to the Rain" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter Adele for her second studio album, '' 21'' (2011). The song was written by Adele and Fraser T. Smith while the production was handled by the latter. It became Adele's third ...
", all of which also topped the chart. The album received a
record-tying six Grammy Awards, including
Album of the Year, and the
Brit Award for British Album of the Year
The Brit Award for British Album of the Year is given annually by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), which represents record companies and artists in the United Kingdom. The accolade is presented at the Brit Awards, an annual celebration of ...
. 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
''Skyfall'' is a 2012 spy film and the twenty-third in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. The film is the third to star Daniel Craig as fictional MI6 agent James Bond and features Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva, the vill ...
", a soundtrack single for the
''James Bond'' film of the same name, which won the
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...
and the
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song
The Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song is a Golden Globe Award that was awarded for the first time in 1962 and has been awarded annually since 1965 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. The award is presented to the songwriters of ...
. 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
Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Another solid form of carbon known as graphite is the chemically stable form of carbon at room temperature and pressure, ...
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
''Hello'' is a salutation or greeting in the English language. It is first attested in writing from 1826. Early uses
''Hello'', with that spelling, was used in publications in the U.S. as early as the 18 October 1826 edition of the '' Norwi ...
", 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 Ceremony, ceremonies conferring knighthood in the Middle Ages. From about 1852, the term ''accolade'' was used much more ge ...
include fifteen
Grammy Award
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 pre ...
s, twelve
Brit Awards
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 ...
, an
Academy Award
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...
, 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 advertis ...
'' named her Artist of the Year. At the 2012 and 2016
Ivor Novello Awards
The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been a ...
, Adele was named Songwriter of the Year by the
The Ivors Academy. ''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...
'' magazine named her one of the
most influential people in the world in 2012, 2016, and 2022. She was appointed a
MBE at the
2013 Queen's Birthday Honours for services to music. Her album ''21'' has been listed in ''Rolling Stone''s
500 Greatest Albums of All Time
* Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
* NME's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a 2013 special issue of British magazine '' NME'', available digitally or in newsstands on October 23. The li ...
(2020).
Insider
''Insider'', previously named ''Business Insider'' (''BI''), is an American financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Insider''s parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German pub ...
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
Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Walthams ...
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 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 centu ...
, then to the neighbouring district of
West Norwood
West Norwood is a largely residential area of south London within the London Borough of Lambeth, located 5.4 miles (8.7 km) south south-east of Charing Cross. The centre of West Norwood sits in a bowl surrounded by hillsides on its east, ...
in south London, which is the subject of her first song "
Hometown Glory". She spent much of her youth in
Brockwell Park
Brockwell Park is a 50.8 hectare (125.53 acres) park located south of Brixton, in Herne Hill and Tulse Hill in south London. It is bordered by the roads Brixton Water Lane, Norwood Road, Tulse Hill and Dulwich Road.
The park commands views of th ...
where she would play the guitar and sing to friends, which she recalled in her 2015 song "
Million Years Ago
The abbreviation Myr, "million years", is a unit of a quantity of (i.e. ) years, or 31.556926 teraseconds.
Usage
Myr (million years) is in common use in fields such as Earth science and cosmology. Myr is also used with Mya (million years ago). ...
". She stated, "It has quite monumental moments of my life that I've spent there, and I drove past it
n 2015
N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''.
History
...
and I just literally burst into tears. I really missed it." Adele graduated from the
BRIT School
The BRIT School is a British performing and creative arts school located in Selhurst, Croydon, England, with a mandate to provide education and vocational training for the performing arts, music, music technology, theatre, musical theatre, dan ...
for Performing Arts & Technology in Croydon in May 2006,
where she was a classmate of
Leona Lewis
Leona Louise Lewis (born 3 April 1985) is a British singer, songwriter, actress and activist. Born and raised in the London Borough of Islington, she attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon. Lewis achieved nationa ...
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
Artists and repertoire (colloquially abbreviated to A&R) is the division of a record label or music publishing company that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists (singers, instrumentalist ...
(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
XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes. It has been ran and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group.
Although only releasing an average of six alb ...
. She doubted if the offer was real because the only record company she knew was
Virgin Records
Virgin Records is a record label owned by Universal Music Group. It originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman. It grew to be a worldw ...
, 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
Jack Peñate (; born 2 September 1984) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician.
Early life
Peñate was born in London on 2 September 1984, the son of an English mother and Spanish father. His maternal grandfather was author Mervyn Peake ...
's song, "My Yvonne," for his debut album, and it was during this session she first met producer
Jim Abbiss
Jim Abbiss is a British music producer, best known for his work on records including the debut album of Editors ('' The Back Room''), Arctic Monkeys' Mercury Music Prize winning debut album, '' Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not'', ...
, 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
Damien George Rice (born 7 December 1973) is an Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He began his career as a member of the 1990s rock group Juniper, who were signed to Polygram Records in 1997. The band enjoyed moderate success ...
. She became the first recipient of the
Brit Awards
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 ...
''
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
"Chasing Pavements" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter Adele for her debut studio album, '' 19'' (2008). Written by Adele with its producer Eg White, the song was released as the second single from the album on 14 January 2008. I ...
", 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
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday 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 St ...
recording.
Adele was nominated for a 2008
Mercury Prize
The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released in the United Kingdom by a British or Irish act. It was created by Jon Webster and Robert Chandler in association with the B ...
award for ''19''. She also won an
Urban Music Award for "Best Jazz Act," and a Music of Black Origin (
MOBO
The MOBO Awards (Music of Black Origin, also known as the MOBOs) are an annual British music award presentation honouring achievements in " music of black origin", including hip hop, grime, UK Drill, R&B, soul, reggae, jazz, gospel, and ...
) 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''. The tour was unusual in that it included few dates in the United Kingdom, Adele's home country and the territo ...
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
Nylon is a generic designation for a family of synthetic polymers composed of polyamides ( repeating units linked by amide links).The polyamides may be aliphatic or semi-aromatic.
Nylon is a silk-like thermoplastic, generally made from pet ...
'' 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
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...
's ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serve ...
.'' 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 ...
, earned the program its best ratings in 14 years with 17 million viewers. Adele performed "Chasing Pavements" and "
Cold Shoulder
"Cold shoulder" is a phrase used to express dismissal or the act of disregarding someone. Its origin is attributed to Sir Walter Scott in a work published in 1816, which is in fact a mistranslation of an expression from the Vulgate Bible. There i ...
," 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
Notting Hill is a district of West London, England, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Notting Hill is known for being a cosmopolitan and multicultural neighbourhood, hosting the annual Notting Hill Carnival and Portobello Roa ...
, 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/ ...
. 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
The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since 1959. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for records released in the previous year. The award was not presented in 1967. The official guidelines are as ...
, in addition to the award for
Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a female in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The awar ...
for "Chasing Pavements", which was also nominated for
Record of the Year
The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...
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
Jennifer Odessa Nettles (born September 12, 1974) is an American singer, songwriter, actress and record producer.
Nettles is the lead vocalist of the duo Sugarland alongside Kristian Bush, and prior to this she fronted the Atlanta-based band ...
. In 2010, Adele received a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Hometown Glory." In April her song "
My Same" entered the
German Singles Chart
The GfK Entertainment charts are the official music charts in Germany and are gathered and published by GfK Entertainment (formerly Media Control and Media Control GfK International), a subsidiary of GfK, on behalf of Bundesverband Musikindust ...
after it had been performed by
Lena Meyer-Landrut in the talent show contest ''
Unser Star für Oslo,'' or ''Our Star for Oslo,'' in which the German entry to the
Eurovision Song Contest 2010
The Eurovision Song Contest 2010 was the 55th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Oslo, Norway, following the country's victory at the with the song "Fairytale" by Alexander Rybak. Organised by the European Broadcasting U ...
was determined. In late September, after being featured on ''
The X Factor
''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...
,'' Adele's version of
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...
's "
Make You Feel My Love
"Make You Feel My Love", also known as "To Make You Feel My Love" is a song written by Bob Dylan for his album '' Time Out of Mind'', released in September 1997. It was first released commercially in August 1997 by Billy Joel for his compilation ...
" 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
Lady A (formerly known as Lady Antebellum) is an American country music group formed in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2006. The group is composed of Hillary Scott (lead and background vocals), Charles Kelley (lead and background vocals, guitar) ...
's "
Need You Now" with
Darius Rucker
Darius Carlos Rucker (born May 13, 1966) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He first gained fame as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of rock band Hootie & the Blowfish, which he founded in 1986 at the University of South Ca ...
. 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 take ...
.
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
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whil ...
and
roots music
Roots music may refer to:
* American folk music
* Americana (music)
Americana (also known as American roots music) is an amalgam of Music of the United States, American music formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that mak ...
. 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
''Spin'' (stylized in all caps) is an American music magazine founded in 1985 by publisher Bob Guccione, Jr. Now owned by Next Management Partners, the magazine is an online publication since it stopped issuing a print edition in 2012.
History ...
:'' "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
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...
'' 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 differe ...
"Sasha Carter", derived from
Beyoncé's "Sasha Fierce" and
June Carter
June is the sixth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars and is the second of four months to have a length of 30 days, and the third of five months to have a length of less than 31 days. June contains the summer solstice in ...
. 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
"Rolling in the Deep" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter Adele for her second studio album, '' 21'' (2011). It is the lead single and opening track on the album. The song was written by Adele and Paul Epworth. The singer herself des ...
" 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
The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the most influential band of all time and were integral to the developm ...
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
Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer and songwriter. She was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues and jazz.
A m ...
's ''
Back to Black
''Back to Black'' is the second and final studio album by English singer and songwriter Amy Winehouse, released on 27 October 2006 by Island Records. Winehouse predominantly based the album on her tumultuous relationship with then-ex-boyfrie ...
'',
with Adele becoming the first artist ever to sell three million albums in the UK in one calendar year. "
Set Fire to the Rain
"Set Fire to the Rain" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter Adele for her second studio album, '' 21'' (2011). The song was written by Adele and Fraser T. Smith while the production was handled by the latter. It became Adele's third ...
" 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 State ...
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
"Rolling in the Deep" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter Adele for her second studio album, '' 21'' (2011). It is the lead single and opening track on the album. The song was written by Adele and Paul Epworth. The singer herself des ...
"), 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
The American Music Awards for Favorite Female Artist – Pop/Rock has been awarded since 1974. Years reflect the year in which the awards were presented, for works released in the previous year (until 2003 onward when awards were handed out on Nove ...
,
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 in February. She won in all six categories for which she was nominated, including
Album of the Year,
Record of the Year
The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...
, 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, 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
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 sponsore ...
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, MTV generation and is one of the List ...
. 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
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music Sound recording, recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation o ...
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
''Skyfall'' is a 2012 spy film and the twenty-third in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. The film is the third to star Daniel Craig as fictional MI6 agent James Bond and features Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva, the vill ...
'', the twenty-third
''James Bond'' film. The song "
Skyfall
''Skyfall'' is a 2012 spy film and the twenty-third in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. The film is the third to star Daniel Craig as fictional MI6 agent James Bond and features Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva, the vill ...
," 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 of th ...
, was recorded at
Abbey Road Studios, 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
''Skyfall'' is a 2012 spy film and the twenty-third in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. The film is the third to star Daniel Craig as fictional MI6 agent James Bond and features Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva, the vill ...
" with
Duran Duran
Duran Duran () are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer and bassist Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor. With the addition of drummer Roger Taylor the following year the band wen ...
's "
A View to a Kill
''A View to a Kill'' is a 1985 spy film and the fourteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and is the seventh and final appearance of Roger Moore as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Although the title is adap ...
" as the highest-charting
James Bond theme song on the UK Singles Chart; a record surpassed in 2015 by
Sam Smith
Samuel Frederick Smith (born 19 May 1992) is an English singer and songwriter. After rising to prominence in October 2012 by featuring on Disclosure's breakthrough single "Latch", which peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart, they ...
'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
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...
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
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. n ...
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
The Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. According to the 54th Grammy Awards description guides, the Best Pop So ...
, 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
Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. He released his debut album, ''Show and Prove'', in 2006 and signed to Warner Records, Warner Bros ...
confirmed that he and Adele had collaborated on a song for his fifth studio album, ''
Blacc Hollywood,'' though the collaboration did not make the final track listing. In January 2014, Adele received her tenth
Grammy Award
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 pre ...
with "Skyfall" winning
Best Song Written for Visual Media 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
Capital may refer to:
Common uses
* Capital city, a municipality of primary status
** List of national capitals, List of national capital cities
* Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences
* Capital (economics), the dura ...
, 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
The World Music Awards is an international award show founded in 1989 under the patronage of Albert II, Prince of Monaco and co-founder/executive producer John Martinotti. The event is based in Monte Carlo. Awards are presented to the world' ...
. 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
Companies House is the executive agency of the company registrars of the United Kingdom, falling under the remit of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. All forms of companies (as permitted by the Companies Act) are ...
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 advertis ...
'' reported that Adele's label, XL Recordings, had intentions of releasing her third studio album sometime in November 2015.
Danger Mouse was revealed to have contributed a song, while
Tobias Jesso Jr. had written a track, and
Ryan Tedder
Ryan Tedder (born June 26, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. As well as being the lead vocalist of the pop rock band OneRepublic, he has an independent career as a songwriter and producer for various artists since th ...
was "back in the mix after producing and co-writing '
Rumour Has It' on ''21''."
At the
72nd Venice International Film Festival
The 72nd annual Venice International Film Festival took place from 2 to 12 September 2015. Alfonso Cuarón served as the President of the Jury for the main competition. A restored version of Federico Fellini's film ''Amarcord'' was shown at the ...
in early September 2015,
Sia
Sia Kate Isobelle Furler ( ; born 18 December 1975) is an Australian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Adelaide, she started her career as a singer in the acid jazz band Crisp in the mid-1990s. In 1997, when Crisp disbanded, she rel ...
announced that her new single "
Alive
Alive may refer to:
*Life
Books, comics and periodicals
* ''Alive'' (novel), a 2015 novel by Scott Sigler
* '' Alive: The Final Evolution'', a 2003 shonen manga by Tadashi Kawashima and Adachitoka
* '' Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors'', ...
" 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 X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...
''. 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
''Hello'' is a salutation or greeting in the English language. It is first attested in writing from 1826. Early uses
''Hello'', with that spelling, was used in publications in the U.S. as early as the 18 October 1826 edition of the '' Norwi ...
" 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'' 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
YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second most ...
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
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bo ...
. 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
The red telephone box, a telephone kiosk for a public telephone designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott, is a familiar sight on the streets of the United Kingdom, Malta, Bermuda and Gibraltar.
Despite a reduction in their numbers in recent years ...
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
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's Flagship (broadcasting), flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News ...
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
Graham William Walker (born 4 April 1963), better known by his stage name Graham Norton, is an Irish actor, author, comedian, commentator, and presenter. Well known for his work in the UK, he is a five-time BAFTA TV Award winner for his come ...
, 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
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serve ...
'' 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'' at the
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and theater at 1260 Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplace of the Nation", it is the headquarters for th ...
on 17 November. Subsequently,
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...
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
David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...
'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'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
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is the organisation that represents the interests of the recording industry worldwide. It is a non-profit members' organisation registered in Switzerland and founded in Italy in 1 ...
named Adele the
Global Recording Artist of the Year
The Global Recording Artist of the Year is an award presented by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) to honor the best-performing recording artist based on a total of album-equivalent units, which include music downlo ...
.
In November 2015, Adele's 2016 tour was announced, her first tour since 2011. Beginning in Europe,
Adele Live 2016
Adele Live 2016 (titled as Adele Live 2017 for the shows in 2017) was the third concert tour by English singer-songwriter Adele in support of her third studio album, ''25 (Adele album), 25''. It began on 29 February 2016, in Belfast, Northern ...
included four dates at the
Manchester Arena
Manchester Arena, currently referred to as the AO Arena for sponsorship reasons, is an indoor arena in Manchester, England, immediately north of the city centre and partly above Manchester Victoria station in air rights space. The arena has th ...
in March 2016, six dates at the
O2 Arena, 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 ...
. 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 Pennsyl ...
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 ...
in Los Angeles, and four nights at
Air Canada Centre
Scotiabank Arena (French: ''Aréna Scotiabank)'', formerly known as Air Canada Centre (ACC), is a multi-purposed arena located on Bay Street in the South Core district of Downtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is the home of the Toronto R ...
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 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 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". 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
Johanne Whiley-Morton (born 4 July 1965), better known by her professional name Jo Whiley, is an English radio DJ and television presenter. She was the host of the long-running weekday later weekend '' Jo Whiley Show'' on BBC Radio 1. She curre ...
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
Glastonbury (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated at a dry point on the low-lying Somerset Levels, south of Bristol. The town, which is in the Mendip district, had a population of 8,932 in the 2011 census. Glastonb ...
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
ANZ may refer to:
People
* Anz (musician), a British DJ and electronic musician
Banks
* ANZ (bank), Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited, the fourth-largest bank in Australia
** ANZ Bank New Zealand, the largest bank in New Zealand
** ...
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
Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
, London on 28 and 29 June.
She announced the shows at "the home of football" by singing the England football team's "
Three Lions
"Three Lions" is a song by the English comedians David Baddiel and Frank Skinner and the rock band the Lightning Seeds. It was released on 20 May 1996 to mark the England football team's participation in that year's UEFA European Championship ...
" anthem and also the theme song to the BBC's weekly Premier League football show ''
Match of the Day
''Match of the Day'' (abbreviated to ''MOTD'') is a football highlights programme, typically broadcast on BBC One on Saturday nights, during the Premier League season. The show's current presenter is former England international striker Gary ...
''.
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
Carpool Karaoke is a recurring segment on ''The Late Late Show with James Corden'', in which host James Corden invites famous musical guests to sing along to their songs with him whilst traveling in a car driven by Corden on a planned route usual ...
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 ...
, a sketch which featured on Corden's talk show ''
The Late Late Show with James Corden
''The Late Late Show with James Corden'' (also known as ''Late Late'') is an American late-night talk show on CBS. It is the fourth and current iteration of '' The Late Late Show''. Airing in the U.S. from Monday to Friday nights at 12:37:28am ...
'' 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 and
Best Pop Vocal Album
The Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality vocal pop music albums. Awards in several ...
for ''25'', and
Record of the Year
The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...
,
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
The Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards. According to the 54th Grammy Awards description guides, the Best Pop So ...
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, MTV generation and is one of the List ...
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
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...
. Adele made her first television appearance in almost four years by hosting the 24 October 2020 episode of ''
Saturday Night Live
''Saturday Night Live'' (often abbreviated to ''SNL'') is an American late-night live television sketch comedy and variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC and Peacock. Michaels currently serve ...
'', 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
Vogue may refer to:
Business
* ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine
** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine
** ''Vogue China'', ...
'' and ''
British Vogue
British ''Vogue'' is a British fashion magazine published based in London since autumn 1916. It is the British edition of the American magazine ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'' and is owned and distributed by Condé Nast, Condé Montrose Nast. Bri ...
'', 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
Hyde Park is a Grade I-listed major park in Westminster, Greater London, the largest of the four Royal Parks that form a chain from the entrance to Kensington Palace through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, via Hyde Park Corner and Gre ...
, 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, A ...
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
Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...
'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
XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes. It has been ran and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group.
Although only releasing an average of six alb ...
and Beggars Group
Beggars Group is a British record company that owns or distributes several other labels, including 4AD, Rough Trade Records, Matador Records, XL Recordings and Young.
History
The companies’ roots stem from the Beggars Banquet record shops, whi ...
'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
The Colosseum at Caesars Palace is a theater located on the Las Vegas Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada. The theater is the main entertainment venue for Caesars Palace. Deemed the ''Home of the Greatest Entertainers in the World'', the theater has hosted ...
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". 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''.
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 Vi ...
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
Geraldine Estelle Horner (née Halliwell; born 6 August 1972) is an English singer, songwriter, author, and actress. She rose to prominence in the 1990s as Ginger Spice, a member of the girl group the Spice Girls. With over 100 million records ...
aka "Ginger Spice", departed from the group. Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and record producer. She is often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, as well as being one of the most influential musicians of her generation. ...
is also one of her major influences. In a 2011 interview, Adele deemed Hill's record ''The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
''The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill'' is the debut solo album by American singer and rapper Lauryn Hill. It was released on August 25, 1998, by Ruffhouse Records and Columbia Records. ''The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill'' is a neo soul and R&B albu ...
'' 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 Wha ...
, the Cranberries
The Cranberries were an Irish rock band formed in Limerick, Ireland. Originally named the Cranberry Saw Us, the band were formed in 1989 by lead singer Niall Quinn, guitarist Noel Hogan, bassist Mike Hogan and drummer Fergal Lawler. Quinn was ...
, Bob Marley
Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981; baptised in 1980 as Berhane Selassie) was a Jamaican singer, musician, and songwriter. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, his musical career was marked by fusing elements o ...
, the Cure
The Cure are an English rock band formed in 1978 in Crawley, West Sussex. Throughout numerous lineup changes since the band's formation, guitarist, lead vocalist, and songwriter Robert Smith has remained the only constant member. The band's ...
, Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), known professionally as Dusty Springfield, was an English singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano sound, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, pop and dra ...
, Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Voice", she is Whitney Houston albums discography, one of the bestselling music artists ...
, 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
Céline Marie Claudette Dion ( ; born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Noted for her powerful and technically skilled vocals, Dion is the best-selling Canadian recording artist, and the best-selling French-language artist of all time. Her ...
, Jeff Buckley
Jeffrey Scott Buckley (November 17, 1966 – May 29, 1997), raised as Scott Moorhead, was an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. After a decade as a session guitarist in Los Angeles, Buckley amassed a following in the early 1990s by ...
, 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 "Q ...
, 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 limite ...
, 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
Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Colu ...
. Adele has stated that one of the most defining moments in her life was when she saw Pink
Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...
perform at Brixton Academy
Brixton Academy (originally known as the Astoria Variety Cinema, previously known as Carling Academy Brixton, currently named O2 Academy Brixton as part of a sponsorship deal with the O2 brand) is a mid-sized concert venue located in South Wes ...
in London. She says: "It was the ''Missundaztood
''Missundaztood'' is the second studio album by American singer Pink. It was released on November 20, 2001, by Arista Records. After the success of '' Can't Take Me Home'', her 2000 debut album, Pink became dissatisfied with her lack of creati ...
'' 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, ...
and Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, i ...
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
Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer and songwriter. She was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues and jazz.
A m ...
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 and I wrote 'Someone Like You' on the guitar too."
She has also expressed admiration for Lana Del Rey
Elizabeth Woolridge Grant (born June 21, 1985), known professionally as Lana Del Rey, is an American singer-songwriter. Her music is noted for its cinematic quality and exploration of tragic romance, Glamour (presentation), glamour, and melan ...
, 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 ...
, 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 af ...
, Alabama Shakes
Alabama Shakes were an American rock band formed in Athens, Alabama, in 2009. The band consists of lead singer and guitarist Brittany Howard, guitarist Heath Fogg, bassist Zac Cockrell, and drummer Steve Johnson.
The band began its career touri ...
, Kanye West
Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer.
Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...
, 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 t ...
, 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
Christopher Francis "Frank" Ocean (born Christopher Edwin Breaux; October 28, 1987), is an American singer, songwriter, and rapper. His works are noted by music critics for featuring avant-garde styles and introspective, elliptical lyrics. Ocean ...
, Queen
Queen or QUEEN may refer to:
Monarchy
* Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom
** List of queens regnant
* Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king
* Queen dowager, the widow of a king
* Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...
, 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 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's 1998 album ''Ray of Light
''Ray of Light'' is the seventh studio album by American singer-songwriter Madonna, released in early 1998 by Maverick Records. A stylistic and aesthetical departure from her previous work, ''Ray of Light'' is an electronica and techno-pop ...
'' 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
Catherine Bush (born 30 July 1958) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and dancer. In 1978, at the age of 19, she topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks with her debut single " Wuthering Heights", becoming the first female ...
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 's work on Taylor Swift
Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bo ...
'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
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun '':wikt:soul, soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The ea ...
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
A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, whil ...
and Southern blues 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''. The tour was unusual in that it included few dates in the United Kingdom, Adele's home country and the territo ...
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, with a range spanning from B2 to C6. However Classic FM states she is often mistaken for a contralto
A contralto () is a type of classical female singing voice whose vocal range is the lowest female voice type.
The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare; similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to that of a countertenor, typical ...
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
Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, i ...
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, ...
for passion and Roberta Flack
Roberta Cleopatra Flack (born February 10, 1937) is a retired American singer. She topped the ''Billboard'' charts with the No. 1 singles " The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face", " Killing Me Softly with His Song", " Feel Like Makin' Love", " W ...
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
Lily Rose Beatrice Allen (born 2 May 1985) is an English singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of actor Keith Allen and film producer Alison Owen. Her music career began in 2005 when she made some of her vocal recordings public ...
and Kate Nash
Kate Marie Nash (born 6 July 1987) is an English singer-songwriter and actress.
Nash launched her music career in 2005. Her 2007 single " Foundations" became a hit and brought her to public attention in the UK. Her debut album, '' Made of Bricks ...
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
Eva Marie Cassidy (February 2, 1963 – November 2, 1996) was an American singer and guitarist known for her interpretations of jazz, folk, and blues music, sung with a powerful, emotive soprano voice. In 1992, she released her first albu ...
's did before her." For their reviews of ''21'', ''The New York Times'' chief music critic Jon Pareles
Jon Pareles (born October 25, 1953) is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of ''The New York Times''.Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), known professionally as Dusty Springfield, was an English singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano sound, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, pop and dra ...
, Petula Clark
Petula Sally Olwen Clark, CBE (born 15 November 1932) is an English singer, actress, and composer. She has one of the longest serving careers of a British singer, spanning more than seven decades.
Clark's professional career began during th ...
, 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 ...
: "dele
The ''Diplomas de Español como Lengua Extranjera'' ( en, Diplomas of Spanish as a Foreign Language), or DELE, are official diplomas issued by the Spanish Instituto Cervantes on behalf of the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science to particip ...
can seethe, sob, rasp, swoop, lilt and belt, in ways that draw more attention to the song than to the singer". Ryan Reed of ''Paste
Paste is a term for any very thick viscous fluid. It may refer to:
Science and technology
* Adhesive or paste
** Wallpaper paste
** Wheatpaste, A liquid adhesive made from vegetable starch and water
* Paste (rheology), a substance that behaves a ...
'' 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 cha ...
, anxiety
Anxiety is an emotion which is characterized by an unpleasant state of inner turmoil
Turmoil may refer to:
* ''Turmoil'' (1984 video game), a 1984 video game released by Bug-Byte
* ''Turmoil'' (2016 video game), a 2016 indie oil tycoon video ...
, and panic attack
Panic attacks are sudden periods of intense fear and discomfort that may include palpitations, sweating, chest pain or chest discomfort, shortness of breath, trembling, dizziness, numbness, confusion, or a feeling of impending doom or of losing ...
s.
In early 2017, tabloids started speculating that Adele and Konecki had secretly married when they were spotted wearing matching rings on their ring finger
The ring finger, third finger, fourth finger, leech finger, or annulary is the fourth digit of the human hand, located between the middle finger and the little finger.
Sometimes the term ring finger only refers to the fourth digit of a left-h ...
s. 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, 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
British ''Vogue'' is a British fashion magazine published based in London since autumn 1916. It is the British edition of the American magazine ''Vogue (magazine), Vogue'' and is owned and distributed by Condé Nast, Condé Montrose Nast. Bri ...
'', 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
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. n ...
, 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. 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
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...
.
In 2015, Adele said, "I'm a feminist, 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, bisexual, transgender, and other queer individuals united by a common culture and soci ...
, 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
Alan Graham Carr (born 14 June 1976) is an English comedian, broadcaster and writer. His breakthrough was in 2001, winning the '' City Life'' Best Newcomer of the Year and the BBC New Comedy Awards. In the ensuing years, Carr's career burgeo ...
'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 whi ...
, 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, Laura Dockrill, Lauren Parsekian, Lauren 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 ...
, and Elton John, among others. Drake (musician), Drake called Adele "One of [his] best 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''. 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 Forbes Celebrity 100#2010s, 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#Music, royalties 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#Architecture, 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 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 End of London, 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 Revival architecture, 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, 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 Revival architecture, Tudor mansion called Ridge Hill Manor, located in the English countryside on the outskirts of East Grinstead. 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'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 held at London's Union Chapel, Islington, 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 Black Ball in London and New York City respectively. On 17 September 2009, she performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, for the VH1 ''Divas'' event, a concert to raise money for the Save The Music Foundation charity. On 6 December, Adele opened with a 40-minute set at John Mayer's 2nd Annual Holiday Charity Revue held at the L.A. Live#Nokia Theatre, Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles. In 2011, Adele gave a free concert for Pride London, 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 Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society, 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 where, keeping a low profile, she was only spotted by a handful of fans. Four days later she appeared at Chelsea, London, 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 "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Hearts" by publications such as ''Vogue
Vogue may refer to:
Business
* ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine
** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine
** ''Vogue Australia'', an Australian fashion magazine
** ''Vogue China'', ...
'' and '' Vanity Fair'', while the ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' has called her "Queen of Soul" for her early success as a soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun '':wikt:soul, soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The ea ...
singer-songwriter. In 2014, Adele was already being regarded as a List of cultural icons of England, 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, J. K. Rowling, The Beatles, Charlie Chaplin and Elton John.
Richard Russell, the founder of record label XL Recordings
XL Recordings is a British independent record label founded in 1989 by Tim Palmer and Nick Halkes. It has been ran and co-owned by Richard Russell since 1996. It forms part of the Beggars Group.
Although only releasing an average of six alb ...
, complimented Adele that she had the potential to change the way women were seen in the music industry 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 (magazine), ''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
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...
'' journalist Sam Lansky 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 (magazine), ''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'' 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'' 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
''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first known for its co ...
'' 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
''Insider'', previously named ''Business Insider'' (''BI''), is an American financial and business news website founded in 2007. Since 2015, a majority stake in ''Business Insider''s parent company Insider Inc. has been owned by the German pub ...
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's The Greatest Singing Voices of All Time list. Adele and her work have influenced numerous recording artists, including Beyoncé, Lauren Daigle, Billie Eilish, Rebecca Ferguson (singer), Rebecca Ferguson, Jess Glynne, Conan Gray, Freya Ridings, Sigrid (singer), Sigrid, Sam Smith, and Tom Walker (singer), 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
The Grammy Award for Best New Artist has been awarded since 1959. Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were handed out, for records released in the previous year. The award was not presented in 1967. The official guidelines are as ...
and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance was a Grammy Award recognizing superior vocal performance by a female in the pop category, the first of which was presented in 1959. It was discontinued after the 2011 Grammy season. The awar ...
. She was also nominated in the categories of Record of the Year
The Grammy Award for Record of the Year is presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without reg ...
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
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 ...
in the categories of British Female Solo Artist, British Single of the Year and Brit Award for British Breakthrough Act, British Breakthrough Act. 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 Grammy Award records#Most Grammys won by a female artist in one night, record-tying six 54th Annual Grammy Awards, Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year; two 32nd Brit Awards, Brit Awards, including British Album of the Year. Adele was the second artist and first female, preceded by Christopher Cross, to have won all four of the Big Four (Grammy Awards), general field awards throughout her career. The success of the album saw her receive numerous mentions in the ''Guinness World Records, Guinness Book of World Records.'' 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
Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Voice", she is Whitney Houston albums discography, one of the bestselling music artists ...
's soundtrack ''The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album, The Bodyguard''. ''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 List of best-selling albums in the United Kingdom, second-best-selling album in the UK of all time. ''21'' was her first album certified RIAA certification, 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's 100 Greatest Women in Music. In April 2012, ''Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...
'' magazine named Adele one of the Time 100#Multiple appearances, 100 most influential people in the world. ''People (magazine), 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 called ''Broadway Sings Adele'', starring various Broadway actors such as Matt Doyle (actor), 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'' 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 (music), 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, and Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Voice", she is Whitney Houston albums discography, one of the bestselling music artists ...
).
At the 2012 Ivor Novello Awards
The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been a ...
in May, Adele was named Songwriter of the Year, and "Rolling in the Deep
"Rolling in the Deep" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter Adele for her second studio album, '' 21'' (2011). It is the lead single and opening track on the album. The song was written by Adele and Paul Epworth. The singer herself des ...
" 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
The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...
for Best Original Song for the James Bond theme "Skyfall
''Skyfall'' is a 2012 spy film and the twenty-third in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. The film is the third to star Daniel Craig as fictional MI6 agent James Bond and features Javier Bardem as Raoul Silva, the vill ...
". This is the first James Bond music, James Bond song to win and the fifth to be nominated—after "For Your Eyes Only (song), For Your Eyes Only" (1981), "Nobody Does It Better" (1977), "Live and Let Die (song), Live and Let Die" (1973), and "The Look of Love (1967 song), The Look of Love" (1967). "Skyfall" won the Brit Award for Best British Single at the 33rd Brit Awards.
In June 2013, Adele was appointed a MBE in the 2013 Birthday Honours, Queen's Birthday Honours list for services to music, and she received the award from Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace 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 List of fastest-selling albums, 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
The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been a ...
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
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...
'' 100 list of the world's most influential people. Adele was inducted into the Royal Albert Hall'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 List of UK Albums Chart number ones of the 2010s#Artists with the most weeks at number one, most weeks at number one in the UK Album Charts in the 2010s, five weeks behind Ed Sheeran
Edward Christopher Sheeran (; born 17 February 1991) is an English singer-songwriter. Born in Halifax, West Yorkshire and raised in Framlingham, Suffolk, he began writing songs around the age of eleven. In early 2011, Sheeran independently r ...
(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
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, t ...
'' 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 List of EGOT winners, 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''. The tour was unusual in that it included few dates in the United Kingdom, Adele's home country and the territo ...
(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
Adele Live 2016 (titled as Adele Live 2017 for the shows in 2017) was the third concert tour by English singer-songwriter Adele in support of her third studio album, ''25 (Adele album), 25''. It began on 29 February 2016, in Belfast, Northern ...
(2016–2017)
Residency
* Weekends with Adele (2022–2023)
See also
* List of best-selling music artists#120 million to 199 million records, List of best-selling music artists – Artists with sales of over 120 million records worldwide
* List of British Grammy winners and nominees
* List of one-word stage names
* Honorific nicknames in popular music
* List of Billboard Social 50 number-one artists, 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
* List of most-streamed artists on Spotify
References
Sources and bibliography
*
*
*
*
External links
* – official site
*
*
*
Adele
at Grammys
*
{{Authority control
Adele,
1988 births
21st-century English singers
21st-century English women singers
APRA Award winners
Ballad musicians
Best Original Song Academy Award-winning songwriters
Brit Award winners
British contemporary R&B singers
BT Digital Music Awards winners
Columbia Records artists
Echo (music award) winners
English activists
English feminists
English guitarists
English mezzo-sopranos
English people of Welsh descent
English pop singers
English soul singers
English women activists
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English women pop singers
English women singer-songwriters
Feminist musicians
Golden Globe Award-winning musicians
Grammy Award winners
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Ivor Novello Award winners
Juno Award for International Album of the Year winners
Labour Party (UK) people
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Living people
Members of the Order of the British Empire
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People from Tottenham
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