Adele, real name Adele Laurie Blue Adkins, is an English pop singer and songwriter who was one of the most widely recognized singers of her generation. Adele was born in Tottenham, London, England, on May 5, 1988. A young, single mother raised Adkins in various working-class areas of London. She learnt to play the guitar and the clarinet as a young girl, and she loved singing modern pop music. But it wasn’t until she was in her early teens, after discovering mid-century artists like rhythm-and-blues singer Etta James, that she started to think about a musical career. Adkins was honing her craft at a secondary performing arts institution supported by the government when a friend began posting songs she had written and recorded on the social networking site Myspace. Record labels subsequently expressed interest in her music, and a few months after graduating in 2006, she finally signed a deal with XL Recordings.
Following the release of a few well-received live performances in Britain that helped build interest in her music, Adele (as she is now called) released her debut album, 19, in 2008. (The age at which she penned the majority of the songs was alluded to in the title.) Adele’s skillful phrasing, sophisticated orchestration, and ability to put her own emotional experiences—particularly sadness—into music have won praise from critics. She was also compared to Amy Winehouse, another rising star from the UK who is clearly influenced by soul music. (However, Adele’s zaftig figure and approachable demeanor made her the more relatable star for many followers.) Adele was first introduced to American audiences through a performance on Saturday Night Live, and in early 2009, she won Grammy Awards for best female pop vocal performance and best new artist (for the beautiful bluesy ballad “Chasing Pavements”).
After a successful throat procedure, Adele gave a performance at the 2012 Grammy Awards. Six Grammy awards total, including those for album, record, and song of the year (the latter two honoring “Rolling in the Deep”), were also obtained by her. She was given two Brit Awards a few days later (the British equivalent of the Grammys). The increase in 21’s sales following both occasions provided additional evidence of the singer’s development as a commercial titan. For “Set Fire to the Rain,” from her concert album Live at the Royal Albert Hall (2011), Adele received the Grammy in 2013 for best pop solo performance. She also won an Academy Award for writing the brassy theme song for the blockbuster James Bond film Skyfall (2012).
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