Grammy Award-winning artist Adele is known for hits such as “Rolling in the Deep,” “Someone Like You” and “Hello.” Since releasing her debut album “19” in 2008, she has gone on to achieve global fame and critical acclaim. Let’s have a look at some facts about the star.
Born on May 5, 1988, in London, England, her full name is Adele Laurie Blue Adkins.
While growing up, Spice Girls was a major influence for her. In an interview to the Daily Star, she said, “I’ve got the Spice Girls to thank for turning me onto music. I was mad about them. I followed their every move.”
Adele was offered her first record deal by XL Recordings in 2006 after a friend posted a three-track demo on MySpace.
Adele’s first appearance on “Saturday Night Live” (episode aired on Oct. 18, 2008) was along with then U.S. vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, attracted around 17 million viewers — the show’s highest-ever ratings in 14 years.
According to media reports, Adele cancelled some dates of a U.S. tour in 2008 to spend more time with her then-boyfriend. Speaking about it to Nylon magazine in 2009, she stated, “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, OK, I’ll just cancel my stuff then.'”
In 2008, she bought a Stella Vine painting for $10,000 as a gift for her mother. The money went to a charity called Keep a Child Alive that supports African children and their families living with AIDS.
In an interview with the Daily Mail in 2009, she hit back at comments on her appearance saying, “I’ve never had a problem with the way I look. I’d rather have lunch with my friends than go to a gym.”
She wrote one of her most iconic songs, “Someone Like You,” while waiting for her bath to run.
Adele’s song for the movie “Skyfall” (2012) was the first James Bond theme song to win an Oscar.
In 2012, she came in at number five on VH1’s 100 Greatest Women in Music.
Adele was appointed a member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by Prince Charles at Buckingham Palace, London, in 2013.
In 2012, the singer became the first female artist in Billboard Hot 100 history to have three concurrent Top 10 singles as a lead artist and two singles in the Top 5.
When on tour, the songstress requires all comp ticket holders to contribute at least $20 for the U.K. charity Sands.
Adele attended the BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology and was classmates with artists Leona Lewis (L) and Jessie J.
The names of her albums “19,” “21” and “25” are not random. Rather they reflect the age at which she wrote the material for them.
In 2017, Adele was ranked the richest musician under 30 in the U.K. and Ireland in the Sunday Times Rich List. Her net worth was valued at around £125M ($163M).
Adele’s favorite color is green.
Towards the end of his term in 2010, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown sent Adele a thank you note, saying: “With the troubles that the country’s in financially, you are a light at the end of the tunnel.”
Within 24 hours of being released in October 2015, the video for her single “Hello” broke the Vevo record by achieving 27.7 million views. The feat previously belonged to Taylor Swift’s “Bad Blood” with 20.1 million views.
Adele was named Billboard’s Artist of the Year in 2011, 2012 and 2016.
TIME magazine named her one of the most influential people in the world in 2012 and again in 2016.
The album “25” became the most downloaded number one album ever, and created history by selling more albums than the last 19 number ones in Britain combined. In the U.S., “25” just took four days to break the single-week U.S. album sales record.
In 2016, she took home four Brit Awards for “25” and “Hello” — British Album of the Year, British Female Solo Artist, British Single of the Year and Global Success. She became only the second person to achieve this feat after the band Blur, who had won four awards in 1995.
Her album “25” became the U.K.’s biggest-selling album in its opening week with the sales of 800,307 copies — beating Oasis’ previous record sales of 696,000 copies for “Be Here Now.”
To date, the singer has 15 Grammy Awards, including Best New Artist, Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
In March 2016, Adele revealed that she has married her long-time boyfriend Simon Konecki, who runs the charity Drop4Drop. The couple have a son Angelo (born 2013).
27/27 SLIDES
Adele has made an emotional appearance during a virtual service marking the third anniversary of London’s tragic Grenfell Tower fire.
The massive blaze claimed the lives of 72 people in 2017, after flammable cladding attached to the outside of the social housing block caught fire.
Adele has voiced longstanding support to survivors of the Grenfell tragedy, and demanded that politicians take action to prevent future, similar disasters.
At the memorial the singer shared a few words of love to those who lost friends and family in the inferno: “I want to send my love to all of you today, and let you know that I’m thinking of you, as I always do”.
Remarking on current social distancing measures, she continued: “Even though we’re having to do this in the virtual world, online, on 2020 Zoom life as it is, it’s still so important for us to mourn together and for us to remember that night and to reflect on that and also reflect on where we are now with that”.
Adele also stressed how important it is to “celebrate the lives that were lived before they were sadly taken that night”.
The Rolling in the Deep hitmaker went on to praise members of the Grenfell community for supporting one another through the tragedy, and during the subsequent pandemic.
“I have never been so moved or so inspired by a group of people before. Your resilience is second to none…,” she shared.
“I miss you all, I can’t wait to see you all and… I’m thinking of you today more than ever. Stay safe, stay healthy.”
