Throughout Adele’s music career, she has had many ups and downs. She started her career at a very young age. She was certain about what she needed to do and how to accomplish her goals. Her name is now known around the world. She is one of the best in the singing industry. How did she get her start? How did she develop her unique style of music, and how did she turn her challenges in life into awards and number one hits? Adele Laurie Blue Adkins was born on May 5, 1988, in North London, England. She was born to Penny Adkins, who was eighteen at the time of her birth.
Her father was Mark Evans, who left the family when she was only four years old. Mark remained in contact with his daughter until her teenage years when he started having problems with drinking which caused their relationship to deteriorate (“Adele Biography”). She began singing at the age of four. During that time, the Spice Girls were her role models. They helped influence her decision to start singing (“Biography: Adele Lifetime”). When Adele was eleven, the family decided to move to Brighton, but they returned to Brixton.
It was at Brixton where a record producer asked teenage Adele to sing a cover of “Heart of Glass”. It was then she realized her calling as a singer. She attended secondary school in West Norwood. While attending school, she met a few R&B singers that influenced her songs. In order to perform at the school, Adele had to learn the clarinet so that she could be in the choir (“Biography: Adele Lifetime”). Instead of learning to play the clarinet, she decided to switch schools. She started attending BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology in Croydon.
In 2006, she graduated and joined other famous people such as Amy Winehouse, Kate Nash, and the Feeling (“Biography: Adele Lifetime”). While attending school, she cut a three-track demo for a class project and posted it on her MySpace page (“Adele Biography”). When the executives heard her tracks, they contacted her, and in just four months after graduating, she was signed to a record deal (“Adele Biography”). She was signed with XL in September 2006, and Jonathan Dickens was assigned as her manager.
During that time, she provided vocals on Jamie Penate’s song “My Yvonne” and met producer Jim Abbiss. Her breakthrough single “Hometown Glory” was released in February 2008. She became a headliner and was the number one breakthrough act of the year. That year, she also received the Brit Awards’ Critic Choice Prize (“Biography: Adele Lifetime”). Her first album, 19, was released in February 2008. The album went straight to number one after the success of her second single “Chasing Pavements”; it stayed at number two and stayed on the United Kingdom charts for four months.
She was nominated for the Mercury Prize as well as the Q Awards for Best Breakthrough Act. Adele won an Urban Music Award for Best Jazz Act before signing with Columbia Records to start her journey into the United States (“Biography: Adele Lifetime”). She started a tour of North America; at the same time, her album 19 was released in June 2008. By October that year, she had cancelled some of her tour dates in order to be with her former boyfriend. It was then when Adele started drinking too much. She performed on an episode of Saturday Night Live with Sarah Palin.
After that show, which was viewed by seventeen million people, her album hit number eleven on the Billboard Charts (“Biography: Adele Lifetime”). It was also ranked number four on iTunes, and in less than twenty-four hours later it was ranked as number one (“Adele Biography”). She has performed in many charity concerts throughout the years, also. In July and November of 2008, she performed at the Keep a Child Alive Black Ball in London and New York City (“Adele-Biography”). Adele moved to Notting Hill in November 2008 and gave up drinking.
Her debut album went platinum in February 2009 and sold over 2. 2 million copies in the United States. She also won two Grammys for Best New Artist and Best Female Vocal in 2009 and was nominated for three Brit awards (“Biography: Adele Lifetime”). Aside from all the awards and nominations the album also earned her the distinction of being named the Sound of 2008 by the BBC (“Adele Biography”). She has been a major contributor to MusiCares, a charity founded by the Grammys for musicians in need. Adele sang at the 2009 MusiCares charity concert in Los Angeles in February.
That same year on September 17, 2009, Adele performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music for the VH1 Divas event. It was a concert to raise money for the Save the Music Foundation charity. She opened with a forty-minute set at John Mayer’s Second Annual Holiday Charity Revue that was held at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California on December 6 (“Adele-Biography”). Her second album, 21, was released on January 24, 2011, in the United Kingdom and was released on February 22 in the United States. Her album was inspired by a former boyfriend (“Biography: Adele Lifetime”).
The much-anticipated album did not disappoint upon its release (“Adele Biography”). This album was a change in direction from her first album, which incorporated country music. The song “Someone Like You” rocketed the album to number one in over twenty-six countries. Adele’s songs “Rolling in the Deep” and “Someone Like You” both made it to the top five. For the first time since the Beatles, a British musician had two singles and two albums in the top five at the same time. The record was a monster hit; both songs had broken sale records by December 2011. Her second album sold more than 3. million copies (“Biography: Adele Lifetime”). Her third single also made it to number one. In October 2011, Adele decided to embark on a worldwide tour; however, she had to cancel two shows to undergo vocal cord surgery due to a vocal cord hemorrhage that could have led to damage to her voice. Since the surgery, she has recovered and has won six Grammys as well as five Brits. The album 21 went back to number one in February 2012. It has become the fifth best-selling album in the United Kingdom (“Biography: Adele Lifetime”). During 2011 and 2012, she donated autographed items to auctions to support MusiCares.
When she was on tour, she required that all backstage visitors donate a minimum charitable contribution of twenty dollars for the United Kingdom charity Sands, an organization dedicated to helping anyone affected by the death of a baby and promoting research to reduce the loss of babies’ lives. During the United Kingdom and the European part of her Adele Live tour, she collected a total of $13,000 for the charity (“Adele-Biography”). In 2012, she won her seventh Grammy with her song “Set Fire to the Rain”. The same year she received an Academy Award and a Golden Globe (“Adele Biography”).
Also during 2012, she won an American Music Award, ten Billboard Music Awards, two Ivor Novello Awards, a Juno Award, an ECHO Award, an ARIA Music Award, and an NRJ Music Award (“Adele Awards”). In January 2012, it was reported that Adele had a new boyfriend. She was dating a charity entrepreneur named Simon Konecki. That same year the couple also announced that they were expecting their first child. Adele gave birth to their son, Angelo, on October 19, 2012. Anglo is the first child for Adele but is the second child for Konecki, who also has a daughter with his ex-wife (“Adele-Biography”).
She has been criticized for her weight by many celebrities, including Joan Rivers and Karl Lagerfeld. Adele has also gained the support of many others, such as Lady Gaga. Adele stated that she is happy with her weight and would only change it if it affected her health. Adele strongly opposes the sexualized music industry and has made references to stunts done by Katy Perry and Madonna (“Adele-Biography”). In October 2015, she announced that she would be releasing her third album in November. She posted the cover of her album, 25, on Instagram.
Under the picture, she stated, “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 realizing. And I’m sorry it took so long, but, you know, life happened” (“Adele Biography”). The following day she released her song “Hello”. It is an epic track that showcases her soaring voice with a classic pop twist. It debuted as number one on the Billboard charts, and it became Adele’s fourth chart topper.
It made history as the first single to receive more than one million downloads in one week. The song has also remained number one for multiple weeks in the United Kingdom (“Adele Biography”). Her album 25 was released on November 20, 2015; it is a combination of emotional and plaintive songs. It looks at the beginnings and ends of relationships, owing much of its sound to the traditional pop music (“Adele Biography”). Her music video of the single “Hello” broke Taylor Swift’s Vevo record for the most views within twenty-four hours (“Adele Releases”). The album is an international sales leader as well.
It reached number one on iTunes in one hundred and ten countries; in the United States, it sold more than 3. 38 million copies within seven days. It was also the fastest album to reach a million copies sold in the United Kingdom, doing so in just ten days (“Adele Biography”). Adele is a very renowned singer. She is popular in two countries, the United Kingdom and the United States. She has won over six Grammys, a Golden Globe, a World Soundtrack Award, a Critics Choice Award, and many other awards. Her songs have made her a number one hit around the world, but the whole music journey was not so easy for her.
She did not let her young age determine her ability to succeed in the music world. She had her own struggles that she had to overcome in order to make it to the top. She dealt with alcohol and was criticized by other celebrities for her weight and figure. Early in her career, she went through a lot of heartache with her past relationships. Her present boyfriend, Simon Konecki, showed her what love is, and in doing so, changed the theme of her songs. With great determination and confidence Adele has turned into a music icon known around the world. Like her song, “Rolling in the Deep,” states, “ Don’t underestimate the things that I will do. ”