Adele
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins, known simply as Adele, is a British singer and songwriter born on May 5, 1988, in North London. She rose to prominence in 2008 with her debut album, "19," which garnered attention following her performance on "Saturday Night Live." Adele's early interest in music was sparked by discovering records by legendary artists like Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald, leading her to attend the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology. Her subsequent albums, including "21" and "25," achieved enormous commercial success, with "25" making history by selling over three million copies in its first week in the U.S. alone.
Throughout her career, Adele has accumulated numerous accolades, including multiple Grammy Awards, a Golden Globe, and an Academy Award for her song "Skyfall." Despite facing challenges such as vocal issues and technical glitches during performances, she has maintained her status as a significant figure in the music industry. In addition to her musical achievements, Adele is known for her philanthropy, supporting various human rights charities. In her personal life, she was married to Simon Konecki, with whom she shares a son, before their divorce was finalized in 2021. As of late 2022, Adele began a Las Vegas residency while hinting at an indefinite break from performing after the show.
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Subject Terms
Adele
Singer and songwriter
- Born: May 5, 1988
- Place of Birth: Tottenham, London, England
Education: The BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology
Significance: Adele is a British singer and songwriter who burst onto the music scene in 2008 with her debut album 19. A performance on the television show Saturday Night Live later that year skyrocketed her popularity, and she has been a dynamic force in the music industry since then.
Background
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins, better known simply as "Adele," was born in North London, England, on May 5, 1988. She is the only child of Penny Adkins, who, at the time, was an eighteen-year-old art student. Adele's father, Mark Evans, left the family when Adele was only four years old. Adele remained in contact with her father until her teen years. At that point, Evans's problems with alcohol and his increased estrangement caused Adele's relationship with him to deteriorate. During that time, Adele grew closer to her mother, who encouraged her daughter to explore her passions.
From an early age, Adele had an interest in music. She has said that an eye-opening moment for her musically was when she discovered a collection of Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald records in a local shop when she was fifteen. The discovery was like an awakening for her and made her realize that some singers do not just top the charts and then disappear. Rather, their careers have longevity, and the singers themselves become legends.
Adele's mother enrolled Adele in the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in London. While there, Adele recorded three songs for a class project that she eventually posted on her page on the social media site Myspace. The songs garnered attention from executives at XL Recordings in London, and the record label signed Adele to a deal in November 2006, just four months after the singer graduated.
Life's Work
Adele's debut studio album, 19, was released January 28, 2008. The album, named to reflect the age at which Adele recorded it, included the singles "Hometown Glory" and "Chasing Pavements." It gained a quickly following in the United Kingdom. When it was released in the United States through Columbia Records, the album became popular among American audiences, too. Later, an appearance on Saturday Night Live in October 2008 cemented Adele's commercial success and skyrocketed her music career. Before the show, Adele's album was ranked fortieth on the music download site iTunes, but less than twenty-four hours after her performance, it had jumped to number one. The album netted Adele several accolades, including the Grammy Award for best new artist in 2009 and the critics' choice prize at the BRIT Awards.
Adele's much-anticipated second album, 21, which again was named for her age at the time of recording, was released January 24, 2011, in most of Europe and the following month in North America. Her sophomore album contained hits such as "Rolling in the Deep" and "Someone Like You." The album was a huge success, selling 352,000 copies in its first week and going on to sell more than 30 million copies worldwide. The record again put Adele at the top of the music charts and became a record-breaker. Adele had two top-five singles and two top-five albums in the same week, making her the only artist after the Beatles and 50 Cent to reach this achievement. In addition, she broke a solo female artist record previously held by Madonna for consecutive weeks topping the album charts.
The album led to more awards for the singer, including her sweep at the 2012 Grammy Awards at which she took home six awards including album of the year. Her success continued into 2013 when she took home another Grammy Award for best pop solo performance for the single "Set Fire to the Rain." She also won a Golden Globe and an Academy Award that year for her work on "Skyfall," the theme song for the James Bond movie of the same name.
On October 22, 2015, Adele announced that she would be releasing her third album, 25, the following month. The album was her first full-length studio project in several years. When the singer posted the album cover on social media, she said that her previous album had been a "breakup record" and that that the new was more of a "make-up record." The next day, Adele released the album's first single, "Hello," which debuted at number one on Billboard's pop charts and made history as the first single to receive more than one million downloads in one week. The album 25 quickly became a hit when it was released in November 2015. It reached number one on iTunes in 110 countries, sold 3.38 million copies in the United States alone in one week, and became the only album to sell a million copies in the United Kingdom in ten days. She again swept the top three categories at the 2017 Grammy Awards, becoming the first artist in Grammy history to do so twice.
Adele's record-breaking career has not been without hiccups or glitches. During a performance at the Grammy Awards in 2016, she dealt with technical glitches from the accompanying piano. At the Grammy Awards in 2017, she stopped and restarted her tribute performance to the late George Michael. The singer has had her share of vocal issues, too. In the summer of 2017, she had to cut her tour short due to damaged vocal chords.
Adele began working on her fourth studio album by 2018. It was originally announced for release in December 2019, however, it was postponed multiple times. In late 2020, Adele announced that the album's release had been delayed again because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The same year, she made her first television appearance in four year, hosting an episode of Saturday Night Live.
The year 2021 saw the release of Adele's fourth studio album, 30, which was yet another successful addition to the singer's robust list of accomplishments. The album, which centered around themes of parenthood and separation, topped the Billboard 200 and various other global charts. The single "Easy on Me" also garnered Adele another Grammy for best pop solo performance. In late 2022, Adele debuted her Las Vegas residency, titled Weekends with Adele, at Ceasars Palace after unexpectedly deciding to delay the show for several months earlier in the year. Adele then announced that following the conclusion of her residency, she intended to take an indefinite break from the music industry.
Impact
In addition to her record-breaking musical accomplishments, Adele is a philanthropist who has donated to several human rights charities over the years, including Amnesty International. On past tours, the singer wrote into her contract that anyone who gets a free ticket to her shows, whether from her or her promoters, must give a donation to charity.
Personal Life
Adele married Simon Konecki around 2017. The couple had one child, Angelo, who was born October 19, 2012. After filing for divorce in late 2019, the couple's seperation was finalized in March 2021.
Bibliography
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