Age, Biography, and Wiki
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins was born in Tottenham, London, to Mark Evans and Penny Adkins. She developed a passion for music at a young age and began writing her own songs. Adele's rise to fame began with her debut album, 19, released in 2008, which earned her critical acclaim and commercial success. Her subsequent albums, 21, 25, and 30, solidified her position as a global music icon. Adele has won numerous awards, including multiple Grammys, a Golden Globe, and an Academy Award.
| Occupation | Soul Singer |
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| Date of Birth | 5 May 1988 |
| Age | 37 Years |
| Birth Place | London, England |
| Horoscope | Taurus |
| Country | England |
Height, Weight & Measurements
Adele stands at approximately 5 feet 9 inches (175 cm) tall. Her weight varies, but she has been open about her journey with weight loss and fitness. Exact measurements are not publicly disclosed, but Adele's transformation over the years has been widely reported.
At the end of 2016, Billboard named Adele Artist of the Year for the third time, and also received the Top Billboard 200 album. 25 was the best-selling album for a second consecutive year in the US. With 235 million views, Adele's Carpool Karaoke through the streets of London with James Corden, a sketch which featured on Corden's talk show The Late Late Show with James Corden in January 2016, was the biggest YouTube viral video of 2016. At the 59th Annual Grammy Awards 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 for 25, and Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance for "Hello". She also performed a tribute to the late George Michael by singing a rendition of his song "Fastlove"; 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.
Adele is a mezzo-soprano, with a range spanning from B2 to C6. However, Classic FM states she is often mistaken for a contralto due to the application of a tense chest mix to reach the lower notes, while also noting that her voice becomes its clearest as she ascends the register, particularly from C4 to C5. Rolling Stone reported that following throat surgery her voice had become "palpably bigger and purer-toned", and that she had added a further four notes to the top of her range. Initially, critics suggested that her vocals were more developed and intriguing than her songwriting, a sentiment with which Adele agreed. She has stated: "I taught myself how to sing by listening to Ella Fitzgerald for acrobatics and scales, Etta James for passion and Roberta Flack for control."
At the 2012 Ivor Novello Awards in May, Adele was named Songwriter of the Year, and "Rolling in the Deep" won the award for Most Performed Work of 2011. At the 2012 BMI Awards held in London in October, Adele won Song of the Year (for "Rolling in the Deep") in recognition of the song being the most played on US television and radio in 2011. In 2013, Adele won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for the James Bond theme "Skyfall". This is the first James Bond song to win and the fifth to be nominated—after "For Your Eyes Only" (1981), "Nobody Does It Better" (1977), "Live and Let Die" (1973), and "The Look of Love" (1967). "Skyfall" won the Brit Award for Best British Single at the 33rd Brit Awards.
| Height | 5 feet 9 inches |
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Dating & Relationship Status
Adele has been private about her personal life, but she was married to Simon Konecki from 2018 until their divorce in 2021. She has been linked to sports agent Rich Paul since 2021, although the status of their relationship is not always publicly confirmed.
After Evans left when Adele was 2 years old, 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, Adele and her mother moved back to London; first to Brixton, then to the neighbouring district of West Norwood in south London, which is the subject of her first song "Hometown Glory". Adele spent much of her youth in Brockwell Park where she would play the guitar and sing to friends, which she recalled in her 2015 song "Million Years Ago". She stated, "It has quite monumental moments of my life that I've spent there, and I drove past it [in 2015] and I just literally burst into tears. I really missed it." Adele graduated from the BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology in Croydon in May 2006, where she was a classmate of Leona Lewis and Jessie J. Adele credits the school with nurturing her talent even though, at the time, she was more interested in going into artists and repertoire (A&R) and hoped to launch other people's careers.
Adele later cancelled the 2008 US tour dates to be with a former boyfriend. She said in Nylon magazine in June 2009, "I'm like, 'I can't believe I did that.' It seems so ungrateful.... I was drinking far too much and that was kind of the basis of my relationship with this boy. I couldn't bear to be without him, so I was like, 'Well, I'll just cancel my stuff then.'" She referred to this period as her "early life crisis". She is also known for her dislike of flying and bouts of homesickness when away from her native London. By the middle of October 2008, Adele's attempt to break in America appeared to have failed. But then she was booked as the musical guest on 18 October 2008 episode of NBC's Saturday Night Live. The episode, which included an expected appearance by then US vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, earned the program its best ratings in 14 years with 17 million viewers. Adele performed "Chasing Pavements" and "Cold Shoulder", and the following day, 19 topped the iTunes charts and ranked at number five at Amazon.com while "Chasing Pavements" rose into the top 25. The album reached number 11 on the Billboard 200 as a result, a jump of 35 places over the previous week. In November 2008, Adele moved to Notting Hill, London after leaving her mother's house, a move that prompted her to give up drinking. The album was certified gold in early 2009, by the RIAA. By July 2009, the album had sold 2.2 million copies worldwide.
Adele has cited the Spice Girls as a major influence in regard to her love and passion for music, stating that "they made me what I am today". During childhood, she impersonated the Spice Girls at dinner parties. She says she was "heartbroken" when her favourite Spice Girls member, Geri Halliwell aka "Ginger Spice", departed from the group. Lauryn Hill is also one of her major influences. In a 2011 interview, Adele deemed Hill's record The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill as her favourite album, while also stating "I was analyzing the record for about a month at the age of 8, I was constantly wondering when I would be that passionate about something, to write a record about it, even though I didn't know I was going to make a record when I was older"; while also thanking Hill "for existing" in a penned letter, that she dedicated in honour of the 20th anniversary of Hill's album. Growing up she also listened to Sinéad O'Connor, the Cranberries, Bob Marley, the Cure, Dusty Springfield, Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Celine Dion, Jeff Buckley, and Annie Lennox. 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.
Adele's genres include soul, jazz and R&B. Her song topics often address heartbreak and relationship. Her success occurred simultaneously with several other British female soul singers, with the British press dubbing her a new Amy Winehouse, 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."
In 2011, Adele began a relationship with charity entrepreneur Simon Konecki. 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, anxiety, and panic attacks.
In early 2017, tabloids started speculating that Adele and Konecki had secretly married when they were spotted wearing matching rings on their ring fingers. During her acceptance speech at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards 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, she revealed that they actually married in 2018, and separated the same year. During this time, Adele became a stay-at-home mother. In April 2019, Adele's representatives confirmed the separation via Associated Press, and affirmed that she and Konecki would continue to raise their son together. On 13 September 2019, Adele filed for divorce from Konecki, with it being finalised on 4 March 2021. In 2021, Adele entered into a relationship with American sports agent Rich Paul. During her performance in Munich on 9 August 2024, she revealed her engagement to Paul.
In 2012, Adele and then-partner Konecki purchased a $3.4 million Art Deco villa in Portslade, on the outskirts of Brighton and Hove, which she sold for $3.7 million in 2016. That same year, she bought two houses built side-by-side in Kensington for $7.7 million and $7.3 million, respectively, with the intention of combining them. Adele also bought a home for her mother in West London for around $817,000. In 2013, she temporarily rented Paul McCartney's 12,000 sqfoot former mansion for an undisclosed price. In 2015, Adele purchased a $5.2 million Mediterranean-style vacation mansion in Malibu, California, and sold it in 2017 for less than its original purchase price, $4.8 million. She envisioned buying several properties on the same street in a Beverly Hills gated community, beginning with the first home purchased for $9.5 million from Don Mischer in 2016. During her Madison Square Garden tour in September 2016, Adele rented NBA player Deron Williams' Tribeca apartment for three weeks at a monthly rent of $60,000. In 2017, she and Konecki purchased a $5.3 million Tudor mansion called Ridge Hill Manor, located in the English countryside on the outskirts of East Grinstead. In 2019 and 2021, Adele bought two more Beverly Hills mansions for $10.65 million and $10 million; the latter was purchased from Nicole Richie and her husband, Joel Madden. In February 2022, it was reported that Adele had bought Sylvester Stallone's 21,000 sqfoot former mansion in Beverly Park, Los Angeles, for $58 million.
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Net Worth and Salary
As of 2025, Adele's net worth is estimated to be around $220 million to $250 million depending on the source. Her annual salary is reported to be approximately $6,731,001.00. Adele earns a substantial amount from her music sales, concert tours, and streaming royalties, with an estimated daily income of $25,888.47 solely from her music.
Adele 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. Adele received backlash for her comments on paying taxes during a 2011 interview with Q. 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."
* In 2015, Adele said she declined all sorts of lucrative endorsement offers out of personal choice. In 2015, she reported paying £4 million tax in the UK. In July 2016, Adele was ranked number nine on the Forbes list of the 100 highest-paid celebrities in the world. In November 2016 and November 2017, she was in second place on the Forbes list of the world's highest-paid women in music, earning US$80.5 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 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 2015, Adele said she declined all sorts of lucrative endorsement offers out of personal choice. In 2015, she reported paying £4 million tax in the UK. In July 2016, Adele was ranked number nine on the Forbes list of the 100 highest-paid celebrities in the world. In November 2016 and November 2017, she was in second place on the Forbes list of the world's highest-paid women in music, earning US$80.5 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 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 2015, Adele said she declined all sorts of lucrative endorsement offers out of personal choice. In 2015, she reported paying £4 million tax in the UK. In July 2016, Adele was ranked number nine on the Forbes list of the 100 highest-paid celebrities in the world. In November 2016 and November 2017, she was in second place on the Forbes list of the world's highest-paid women in music, earning US$80.5 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 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 2015, Adele said she declined all sorts of lucrative endorsement offers out of personal choice. In 2015, she reported paying £4 million tax in the UK. In July 2016, Adele was ranked number nine on the Forbes list of the 100 highest-paid celebrities in the world. In November 2016 and November 2017, she was in second place on the Forbes list of the world's highest-paid women in music, earning US$80.5 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 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 2015, Adele said she declined all sorts of lucrative endorsement offers out of personal choice. In 2015, she reported paying £4 million tax in the UK. In July 2016, Adele was ranked number nine on the Forbes list of the 100 highest-paid celebrities in the world. In November 2016 and November 2017, she was in second place on the Forbes list of the world's highest-paid women in music, earning US$80.5 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 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 2015, Adele said she declined all sorts of lucrative endorsement offers out of personal choice. In 2015, she reported paying £4 million tax in the UK. In July 2016, Adele was ranked number nine on the Forbes list of the 100 highest-paid celebrities in the world. In November 2016 and November 2017, she was in second place on the Forbes list of the world's highest-paid women in music, earning US$80.5 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 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.
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.
Career, Business, and Investments
Adele's music career has been incredibly successful, with albums like 21, 25, and 30 achieving record-breaking sales. Her 25 World Tour earned her $56 million personally and $70 million for her touring company. The success of her theme song for the James Bond film "Skyfall" also contributed significantly to her earnings.
In addition to music, Adele has invested in real estate, owning properties in Beverly Hills and London. Her Las Vegas residency has also been a lucrative venture, contributing to her overall wealth.
Adele's second album, 21, shares the folk and soul influences of her debut album, but was further inspired by American country and Southern blues music to which she had been exposed during her 2008–09 tour An Evening with Adele 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." 30 is a collection of pop, soul, and jazz songs. Journalists have described it as Adele's most creative work sonically, expanding on her past works by incorporating dance-pop, gospel and R&B elements.
Adele's second album, 21, earned her a record-tying six Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year; two 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 general field awards throughout her career. The success of the album saw her receive numerous mentions in the Guinness Book of World Records. With 21 non-consecutive weeks at number one in the US, Adele broke the record for the longest number-one album by a female in Billboard history, beating the record formerly held by Whitney Houston's soundtrack 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 woman in UK chart history, 21 is also the second-best-selling album in the UK of all time. 21 was her first album certified diamond in the US. On 6 March, 21 reached 30 non-consecutive weeks at number one on the Australian ARIA Chart, making it the longest-running number one album in Australia in the 21st century, and the second longest-running number one ever. At one point in 2010, a copy of Adele's 21 and 19 albums was sold every seven seconds in the UK
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 magazine named Adele one of the 100 most influential people in the world. People named her one of 2012 Most Beautiful at Every Age. Rolling Stone ranked her no. 22 on their list of 200 Best Singers of All Time in 2023. 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.
In 2021, Adele was named the UK's best-selling female album artist of the 21st century, based on Official Charts Company data. In May 2022, Time magazine named her for the third time among the 100 most influential people in the world in the "icons" category. As Adele has won Emmy, Grammy, and Oscar Awards, it makes her a Tony Award away from achieving EGOT status as of 2022. In December 2023, Adele was listed in The Hollywood Reporter's 2023 Women in Entertainment Power 100, and received the Sherry Lansing Leadership Award.
Social Network
Adele is not highly active on social media platforms, preferring to maintain a private life. However, her music and public appearances keep her in the spotlight.
After graduating from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a record deal with XL Recordings. Her debut album, 19, was released in 2008 and included the UK top-five singles "Chasing Pavements" and "Make You Feel My Love". 19 was named in the top 20 best-selling debut albums ever in the UK. She received the Grammy Award for Best New Artist. Adele released her second studio album, 21, in 2011. It became the world's best-selling album of the 21st century. 21 holds the record for the top-performing album in US chart history, topping the Billboard 200 for 24 weeks, with the singles "Rolling in the Deep", "Someone like You", and "Set Fire to the Rain" heading charts worldwide, becoming her signature songs. The album received a record-tying six Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year. In 2012, Adele released "Skyfall", a soundtrack single for the James Bond film Skyfall, which won her the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
In a 2011 Rolling Stone cover story, Adele said she dealt with onstage anxiety by creating the alter ego "Sasha Carter", derived from Beyoncé's "Sasha Fierce" and June Carter. During one episode after she met Beyoncé, Adele said, she asked "What would Sasha Fierce do?" and that helped.
Adele's performance of "Someone like You" at the 31st Brit Awards on 15 February propelled the song to number one chartbuster in the UK. Her first album, 19, re-entered the UK album chart alongside 21, while first and second singles "Rolling in the Deep" and "Someone Like You" were in the top 5 of the UK singles chart, making Adele the first living artist to achieve the feat of two top-five hits in both the Official Singles Chart and the Official Albums Chart simultaneously since the Beatles in 1964. Both songs topped the charts in multiple markets and broke numerous sales performance records. Following her performance of "Someone Like You" at the 2011 MTV Video Music Awards, it became Adele's second number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100. By December 2011, 21 sold over 3.4 million copies in the UK, and became the biggest-selling album of the 21st century, overtaking Amy Winehouse's Back to Black, with Adele becoming the first artist ever to sell three million albums in the UK in one calendar year. "Set Fire to the Rain" became Adele's third number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100, as Adele became the first artist ever to have an album, 21, hold the number-one position on the Billboard 200 concurrently with three number-one singles. Moreover, 21 had the most weeks on the Billboard 200 chart of any album by a female artist.
On the eve of her 26th birthday in May 2014, Adele posted a cryptic message via her Twitter account which prompted media discussion about her next album. The message, "Bye bye 25... See you again later in the year," was interpreted by some in the media, including Capital FM, as meaning that her next album would be titled 25 and released later in the year. In 2014, Adele was nominated for nine World Music Awards. In early August, Paul Moss suggested that an album would be released in 2014 or 2015. However, in the October 2014 accounts filed with Companies House by XL Recordings, they ruled out a 2014 release.
The video of "Hello", released on 22 October, was viewed over 27.7 million times on YouTube in its first 24 hours, breaking the Vevo record for the most views in a day, surpassing the 20.1 million views for "Bad Blood" by Taylor Swift. On 28 October, BBC News reported that "Hello" was being viewed on YouTube an average one million times an hour. "Hello" went on to become the fastest video to hit one billion views on YouTube, which it achieved after 88 days. The video for "Hello" captured iconic British elements such as a red telephone box and a cup of tea. The song debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart on 30 October, with first week sales of 330,000 copies, making it the biggest-selling number-one single in three years. "Hello" also debuted at number one in many countries around the world, including Australia, France, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland and Germany, and on 2 November, the song debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the first song in the US to sell at least one million downloads in a week, setting the record at 1.11 million. By the end of 2015, it had sold 12.3 million units globally and was the year's 7th-best-selling single despite being released in late October.
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, which was later confirmed by the festival's organisers. She appeared for a 90-minute 15-song set at the festival on 25 June in front of 150,000 people, and described the experience as "by far, the best moment of my life so far". In an interview with Jo Whiley on BBC Radio 2 around 30 minutes before going on stage, Adele had said she had been going to Glastonbury since she was a child and that the festival had meant a lot to her, before she broke down. Whiley recalls, "She was really scared, really, really scared. We were doing the interview and at one point she had to stop as she was in tears. It was amazing to see somebody like that, then to witness her walking out on stage and doing the most incredible set. To know that half an hour before she'd been in tears at the thought of walking out there."
Adele was reportedly working on her fourth studio album by 2018. On 5 May 2019, her 31st birthday, Adele posted several black-and-white pictures of herself on her Instagram account celebrating the occasion along with a message reflecting on the preceding year. The message ended with, "30 will be a drum n bass record to spite you". Media outlets took the post as an indication that a new album was on the way. On 15 February 2020, Adele announced at a friend's wedding that her fourth studio album would be out by September 2020. However, she later confirmed that the album's production and release had been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Adele made her first television appearance in almost four years by hosting the 24 October 2020 episode of Saturday Night Live, with musical guest H.E.R.
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" for release on 15 October. A release date of 19 November 2021 was announced for the album shortly thereafter. On 7 October, Adele was announced to be the November cover star on both Vogue and British Vogue, the first person to simultaneously cover both publications at the same time. On 15 October, Adele released "Easy on Me" to a positive reception, breaking Spotify and Amazon Music records for most streams for a song in a day. The song debuted at number one on the UK Singles Chart, Adele's third UK number one, and had the highest first-week sales for a single since January 2017. Reaching the top of the Billboard Hot 100, it is her fifth US number-one single. On 28 October 2021, pre-sale tickets for her two concerts in Hyde Park, London, scheduled for 1 and 2 July 2022, sold out in less than an hour. The total number of tickets sold were 130,000, without prior promotion. More than 1.3 million people attempted to buy tickets for these two concerts. Jim King, CEO of the European Festivals division at AEG stated that Adele "could have sold several million tickets to the shows, such is the demand for her".
After moving to south London, she became interested in R&B acts such as Aaliyah, Destiny's Child, Mary J. Blige, and Alicia Keys. Adele has stated that one of the most defining moments in her life was when she saw Pink perform at Brixton Academy in London. She says: "It was the Missundaztood record, so I was about 13 or 14. I had never heard, being in the room, someone sing like that live [...] I remember sort of feeling like I was in a wind tunnel, her voice just hitting me. It was incredible." In 2002, 14-year-old Adele discovered Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald as she stumbled on the artists' CDs in the jazz section of her local music store. She was struck by their appearance on the album covers. Adele states she then "started listening to Etta James every night for an hour," and in the process was getting "to know my own voice." She has credited Amy Winehouse and her 2003 album Frank with inspiring her to take up the guitar, saying: "If it wasn't for Amy and Frank, one hundred per cent I wouldn't have picked up a guitar, I wouldn't have written 'Daydreamer' or 'Hometown [Glory]' and I wrote 'Someone like You' on the guitar too."
Adele has also expressed admiration for Lana Del Rey, Grimes, Chvrches, FKA Twigs, Alabama Shakes, Kanye West, Rihanna, Britney Spears, Frank Ocean, Queen, and Stevie Nicks. * * * * In 2017, she described Beyoncé as a particular inspiration, calling her "[the] artist 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 as a "chief inspiration" for her album 25. She stated that the release of 25 and her own comeback was inspired by the enigmatic Kate Bush who in 2014 made a comeback to the stage 35 years after her last live shows from her only tour in 1979. Adele mentioned that Max Martin's work on Taylor Swift's "I Knew You Were Trouble" was the inspiration behind her song "Send My Love (To Your New Lover)", saying: "I was like, 'Who did this?' I knew it was Taylor, and I've always loved her, but this is a totally other side – like, 'I want to know who brought that out in her.' I was unaware that I knew who Max Martin was. I Googled him, and I was like, 'He's literally written every massive soundtrack of my life.' So I got my management to reach out. They came to London, and I took my guitar along and was like, 'I've got this riff,' and then 'Send My Love' happened really quickly."
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, 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."
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, with proceeds from the concerts donated to Mencap which works with people with learning disabilities. 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 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".
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 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".
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer has called Adele the "Queen of Soul" for her early success as a soul singer-songwriter, while she was referred to as the "Queen of Hearts" by publications such as Vogue and Vanity Fair. In 2014, Adele was already being regarded as a British cultural icon, with young adults from abroad naming her among a group of people whom they most associated with UK culture, which included William Shakespeare, Queen Elizabeth II, David Beckham, J. K. Rowling, The Beatles, Charlie Chaplin, and Elton John.
Richard Russell, the founder of record label XL Recordings, complimented Adele that she had the potential to change the way women were seen in the music industry by focusing on music rather than sexuality. The New Yorker called her "the most popular living soul singer in the world" at 27-years-old. Writing for Vulture, Jillian Mapes opined that Adele is "among the first plus-size female cultural icons to reach the highest echelons of commercial success without having to make herself the butt of fat jokes along the way". Time journalist Sam Lansky described her as "a voice for every generation" and further stated that "Adele bridges pop music's past and its future". Lansky wrote that Adele, by choosing to sound like the past, goes in an opposite direction in mainstream music when her contemporaries "try to sound simultaneously like each other" and follow trends.
Billboard credited Adele for reviving the music industry in 2011, the year of 21's release, and wrote: "She was a unique presence not only in 2011, but in all of the 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 writers observed that "She has written more modern pop standards than anyone else in her generation, each single becoming an instant classic."
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 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).
Education
Adele attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology in Croydon, London, where she honed her musical skills alongside other notable artists like Amy Winehouse and Jessie J.
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, director of the music label XL Recordings. She doubted if the offer was real and she took a friend with her to the meeting.
