“As soon as I got a microphone in my hand, when I was about 14, I realised I wanted to do this,” she says. “Most people don’t like the way their voice sounds when it’s recorded. I was just so excited by the whole thing that I wasn’t bothered what it sounded like.” A fan of such diverse artists as Jill Scott, Etta James, Billy Bragg, Peggy Lee, Jeff Buckley and The Cure, Adele’s soul-tinged songs of love’s lost and memories made are set to resonate with all who hear them.
“I’ve got no problem explaining what my lyrics are about,” ADELE says. “I really like poetry: I’m not very good at reading it, but I love writing it.
Singers like Jill Scott and Karen Dalton are amazing; proper poets.”
“My debut album is about being between 18 and 19; about love,” she
continues. “‘Daydreamer’ is about this boy I was in love with, like
proper in love with. He was bi and I couldn’t deal with that. All the
things I wanted from my boyfriend, he was never going to be. I get
really jealous anyway, so I couldn’t fight with girls and boys. It’s
quite a sad album, [with songs about] being cheated on and not getting
what you want”.
Anchoring it all together is ADELE’s incredible voice. As immediate as it is undeniable, its power is matched only by her Force 10 personality. “I’ve always liked being the centre of attention, yes,” she laughs.
ADELE is from a resolutely un-musical
family. “It all comes from impersonating The Spice Girls and Gabrielle,”
she cheerfully explains. “I did little concerts in my room for my mum
and her friends. My mum’s quite arty; she’d get all these lamps and
shine them up to make one big spotlight. They’d all sit on the bed.”
Later, when her dad’s best friend, a dance producer, rightly declared
ADELE’s voice ‘wicked’, he invited her to record a cover of ‘Heart Of
Glass’. The first time she got a microphone in her hand, she realised
her calling.
Secondary school proved instructive in as much as it gave ADELE
an outlet to “meet all the R&B kids” and “sit around the playground
singing.” But it was a pretty rough place and pursuing music there was
something of a challenge, on account of the fact that ADELE
wanted to sing and perform her songs but “the teacher was a bit
rubbish. They gave me a really hard time, trying to bribe me, saying
that if I wanted to sing I had to play clarinet to sing in the choir. So
I left.”
So ADELE upped sticks, signing up to The
Brit School, the Selhurst college whose alumni number Amy Winehouse,
members of The Feeling and Kate Nash. However she had her misgivings…
“If I hear someone’s from stage school I’d think they were a dickhead, and I know it might make me sound like that. But it had free rehearsal rooms and free equipment and I was listing to music all day, every day for years. The music course was really wicked. There was no dancing or anything like that. No jazz hands.”
During her second year, ADELE’s resolve to be a singer was given a
little extra boost – Shingai Shoniwa, the turbo-lunged vocalist with The
Noisettes moved in next door. “She’s an amazing singer. I used to hear
her through the walls. I’d go round and we’d jam and stuff like that.
Just hearing her and her music really made me want to be a writer and
not just sing Destiny’s Child songs. ”
Despite being quick off the mark on MySpace – her friend set up a page for ADELE’s music on the last day of 2004 – it wasn’t until 2006 that labels started noticing her talent. “I’d hate people to think that I was a ‘MySpace singer’,” she says. “I’ve got no right to be that. I’ve got, like, 10,000 ‘friends’, whereas Jack Peñate’s got about one million…”
When XL called her in for a meeting, ADELE was nervous enough to take a chum with her.
“I never, ever thought I’d get signed. The A&R guy emailed me and I
was ignoring it… I didn’t realise they [XL] did all these amazing
names…”
Despite interest from plenty of other labels, the independent regarded for its one-off, defining acts (for rock band, see The White Stripes; for rapper, see Dizzee Rascal) proved the perfect match for her one-off talent, and XL will put out ADELE’s stunning debut album “19” early next year. A single, the beautiful heartbreaker, ‘Chasing Pavements’ will precede it.
Before that comes ADELE’s debut release on Jamie T’s Pacemaker
Recordings label, ‘Hometown Glory’ – a stunningly evocative picture of
“all my fondest memories of London”. ‘Daydreamer’, a remarkable ballad
notable for lyrics like ‘feeling up his girl like he’d never felt her
figure before’ and ‘he could change the world with his hands behind his
back’ has already floored the audience on the prestigious ‘Later With
Jools Holland’.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen if my music career goes wrong,” she laughs. “I haven’t had a proper job yet.”
Consider that one unlikely turn of events.
“I’ve got no problem explaining what my lyrics are about,” ADELE says. “I really like poetry: I’m not very good at reading it, but I love writing it.
Singers like Jill Scott and Karen Dalton are amazing; proper poets.”
Anchoring it all together is ADELE’s incredible voice. As immediate as it is undeniable, its power is matched only by her Force 10 personality. “I’ve always liked being the centre of attention, yes,” she laughs.
“If I hear someone’s from stage school I’d think they were a dickhead, and I know it might make me sound like that. But it had free rehearsal rooms and free equipment and I was listing to music all day, every day for years. The music course was really wicked. There was no dancing or anything like that. No jazz hands.”
Despite being quick off the mark on MySpace – her friend set up a page for ADELE’s music on the last day of 2004 – it wasn’t until 2006 that labels started noticing her talent. “I’d hate people to think that I was a ‘MySpace singer’,” she says. “I’ve got no right to be that. I’ve got, like, 10,000 ‘friends’, whereas Jack Peñate’s got about one million…”
When XL called her in for a meeting, ADELE was nervous enough to take a chum with her.
Despite interest from plenty of other labels, the independent regarded for its one-off, defining acts (for rock band, see The White Stripes; for rapper, see Dizzee Rascal) proved the perfect match for her one-off talent, and XL will put out ADELE’s stunning debut album “19” early next year. A single, the beautiful heartbreaker, ‘Chasing Pavements’ will precede it.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen if my music career goes wrong,” she laughs. “I haven’t had a proper job yet.”
Consider that one unlikely turn of events.
Trade Mark
Soulful voice
The ubiquitous wigs
Unfiltered profanities during her performances
Trivia
First winner of the Brit Awards Critics' Choice (2008).
Resides with her mother in South London.
Is influenced by the music of Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald.
Graduated from BRIT School (2006).
English soul and jazz singer.
Underwent throat surgery for a hemorrhaged vocal cord on November 7, 2011.
Made Billboard history by becoming the first female singer to top
the artist, album and singles list in the same year (2011).
In the 2011 Billboard poll, Adele was voted for the Favourite Hot
100 No. 1 song (Rolling in the Deep) and Favourite Billboard 200 No. 1
for her album "21".
Is good friends with Gente de barrio (1985) actor Sid Owen.
Won 6 awards at the 2012 Grammy Awards, including: Record of the
Year for her album "21", Album of the Year for "21", Song of the Year
for "Rolling in the Deep", Best Solo Performance for "Someone Like You",
Best Pop Vocal Album for "21", and Best Short Form Music Video for
"Rolling in the Deep".
Has a miniature dachshund.
Suffers from a fear of flying and sailing.
Owns a selection of wigs for which she has pet names such as, "June" (after June Carter Cash), "Jackie" (after Jackie Collins), etc.
Prior to hitting the big time as a singer, Adele once lived in a 1BR flat directly above the bookstore run by Hugh Grant in the movie Notting Hill (1999).
Even after making a victorious splash at the 51st Grammy Awards (8
Feb. 2009), the singer surprised everybody when she took a job at the
London-based "Rough Trade" record store as a personal exercise in
learning about the basics of the music industry and getting an insider's
view of the up-and-coming talent.
She and Beyoncé Knowles are avid mutual fans.
First British female artist to reach the 10 million records sales
mark in the U.S. with her album "21". The album is also the first to top
the list two years in a row (2011 & 2012) since Michael Jackson's "Thriller" in 1983 and 1984. [November 2012]
Has been in a relationship with Simon Konecki since 2011 and they have one son together.
Gave birth to her 1st child at age 24, a son Angelo James Konecki
on October 19, 2012. Child's father is her boyfriend, Simon Konecki.
Her father, Mark Evans, walked out on Adele and her mother when
she was 3-years-old. She saw him every weekend until 1999, not seeing
him again until 2003. They became estranged again in 2011 after Evans
sold a story about his daughter to the press.
Was 8 months pregnant with her son Angelo when she recorded the titular theme song of the film, Skyfall (2012).
Returned to work 4 months after giving birth to her son Angelo in order to perform at The Oscars (2013).
She was awarded the MBE (Member of the Order of the British
Empire) in the 2013 Queen's Birthday Honours List for her services to
Music. She is a singer and songwriter.
London, England: singer [June 2013]
Personal Quotes
I'm learning about tax at the moment with my accountant - pffffff!
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 per cent! Trains
are always late, most state schools are shit and I've gotta give you
like four million quid, are you 'avin a laugh? When I got my tax bill in
from 19 I was ready to go 'n' buy a gun and randomly open fire.
[on singing her songs of heartbreak] Imagine if you weren't in an
office job or whatever, and you were performing your feelings as I do.
It's kind of like not getting over something isn't it, because every
night you have to talk about it.
When it comes to staying myself - my career isn't my life, it
doesn't come home with me. So it's a piece of piss staying grounded and
not being changed by it. The same things I've always liked still satisfy
me. My team's the same and my group of friends are the same.
Of course
I'm bowled over by people's response to "21," and when I meet artists I
love, it blows my mind. But it baffles me as well. I go home and my best
friend laughs at me, rather than going to a celebrity-studded party to
rub shoulders with people who know me but who I don't know. I'm Z-list
when it comes to that shit.
I've never been more normal than I am now.
I don't make music for eyes. I make music for ears.
Crying is really bad for your vocal cords.
Heartbreak can definitely give you a deeper sensibility for
writing songs. I drew on a lot of heartbreak when I was writing my first
album, I didn't mean to but I just did.
Official website
