Adele was born in north London, England, on May 5, 1988. A huge fan of Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald
as a child, Adele was a music fiend beginning at the age of 3. She
attended the BRIT School, a free school for the performing arts. Her
first two albums, 19 and 21,
Early Years
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins was born on May 5, 1988 in North
London, England. She was the only child of Penny Adkins, an "arty mom"
who was just 18 at the time of her birth, and a Welsh father, Mark, who
left the family when Adele was only 4 years old.
Mark, who never married Penny, remained in contact with his daughter
up until her teen years, when his problems with alcohol, and increasing
estrangement from his daughter, caused their relationship to
deteriorate. By contrast, Adele grew close to her mom, who encouraged
her young daughter "to explore, and not to stick with one thing."
Early on, Adele developed a passion for music. She gravitated toward the songs of Lauren Hill, Destiny's Child and Mary J. Blige. But her true, eye-opening moment came when she was 15, and she happened upon a collection of Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald records at a local junk shop. "There was no musical heritage in our family," Adele told The Telegraph
in a 2008 interview. "Chart music was all I ever knew. So when I
listened to the Ettas and the Ellas, it sounds so cheesy, but it was
like an awakening. I was like, oh, right, some people have proper
longevity and are legends. I was so inspired that as a 15-year-old I was
listening to music that had been made in the 40s."
While clearly bright, Adele wasn't a match for regular classroom
work. Instead, her mother enrolled her in the BRIT School for Performing
Arts & Technology, which counts Amy Winehouse as an alum.
While at school, Adele cut a three-track demo for a class project,
which was eventually posted on her MySpace page. When executives at XL
Recordings heard the tracks, they contacted the singer and, in November
2006, just four months after Adele had graduated school, signed her to a
record deal.
Commercial Success
Adele's debut album, 19, which is named for the
singer's age when she began recording it, hit record stores in early
2008. Led by two popular lead singles, "Hometown Glory" and "Chasing
Pavement," the record rocketed Adele to fame.
Released in the United States through Columbia Records, 19
resonated with American audiences, much like it had with British music
listeners. Adele cemented her commercial success with an appearance in
October 2008 on Saturday Night Live. At the taping of the show, the album was ranked No. 40 on iTunes. Less than 24 hours later, it was No. 1.
At the 2009 Grammy awards, Adele took home Best New Artist. In
addition, the album earned the singer the distinction of being named the
"Sound of 2008" by the BBC. That same year, she earned the Critics'
Choice prize at the BRIT Awards.
Her much anticipated follow-up album, 21, again named for her
age when she recorded it, did not disappoint upon its release in early
2011. Tapping even deeper into Adele's appreciation for classic American
R&B and jazz, the record was a monster hit, selling 352,000 copies
within its first week.
Anchored by hits like "Rolling in the Deep" and "Someone Like You," 21
placed Adele in rarified air. In February 2011, she found herself with
two top-five singles and a pair of top-five albums in the same week, the
first artist since the Beatles
in 1964 to achieve that milestone. Adele also broke the solo female
artist record for staying at No. 1 for 11 weeks. In 2012, she swept the
Grammy Awards, taking home six wins,
including Album of the Year. "This record is inspired by
something that is really normal and everyone's been through it—just a
rubbish relationship," she said at the Grammy ceremony.
Coupled with the success is Adele's own maturity, and ability to
avoid the same kind of fame-induced pitfalls that plagued the late Amy Winehouse.
Adele, whose larger, curvier body bucks the trend of most Top 40
celebs, is also supremely confident not just in her talent, but also in
her looks. "I've seen people where it rules their lives, you know, who
want to be thinner or have bigger boobs, and how it wears them down,"
she told Vogue magazine in 2011. "And I just don't want that in my life."
Personal Life
On June 29, 2012, Adele announced on her website that she was
pregnant with her first child. The baby's father is Adele's boyfriend,
Simon Konecki. Adele recently spoke to People magazine on being a
mother: "I really want to be a mum. I better start getting on with
it!" she said, adding that she wants to have three sons by the time
she's 30.
http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Octanei-Infotech-4720242
http://www.linkedin.com/in/octaneiinfotech
