Adele

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Adele has delayed her Las Vegas residency performances at Caesars Palace until after March because of a voice-affecting illness. On Instagram, the 35-year-old singer explained that she hasn’t fully recuperated from a prior illness and is now sick again. However, her shows in May and June remain on the schedule, and she has 10 performances planned in Germany in August.

Who Is Adele?

Adele, the renowned British singer-songwriter, is famous for tracks such as “Rolling in the Deep,” “Someone Like You,” and “Hello.” She landed a record deal at 18, just months after finishing a performing arts school near London. Her first album, “19”, earned her the 2009 Grammy for Best New Artist. Adele’s following albums, including “30” released in November 2021, have been hugely successful. She has received 16 Grammys and one Oscar and is the first artist to win Album, Song, and Record of the Year twice at the Grammys. Since November 2022, she has been performing a residency in Las Vegas. In a 2008 interview, Adele shared that listening to legendary artists like Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald was a revelation for her, inspiring her deeply as a 15-year-old.

Adele thrived outside of traditional educational environments, so her mother enrolled her in the Brit School for Creative & Performing Arts, which has notable alumni like Tom Holland and Amy Winehouse. While there, Adele created a three-track demo for a class project, which she uploaded to MySpace. This caught the attention of XL Recordings, leading to her signing a record deal in November 2006, just four months after her graduation. In early 2021, as her father battled a recurrence of cancer, Adele reconciled with him. They had an honest conversation about their relationship, and she played songs from her upcoming album for him. He passed away in May. Reflecting on this, Adele said that she didn’t fully understand her deep feelings for her father until their conversation, which brought her a profound sense of peace and emotional release after his death.

Albums

Adele has released four albums so far, beginning with “19” in 2008. She names her albums after the age she was when she started recording them. Both “21” and “25” won the Grammy for Album of the Year. Her albums, in order, are “19,” “21,” “25,” and “30.”

Top Songs

Adele’s first song to chart in both the UK and the US was “Chasing Pavements,” the lead single from her debut album. She wrote the song after a fight with her then-boyfriend in a London club, describing how she felt like she was “chasing an empty pavement.” In the UK, the song debuted on the Official Singles Chart in January 2008, reaching number 2, and it climbed to number 21 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in February 2009.

Adele has had three number 1 hits in the UK—“Someone Like You,” “Hello,” and “Easy On Me”—and five number 1 songs on the US Billboard Hot 100: “Rolling in the Deep,” “Someone Like You,” “Set Fire to the Rain,” “Hello,” and “Easy On Me.” Many of these songs are inspired by her romantic experiences, with “Rolling in the Deep” written after her breakup from her “first real relationship,” which she felt marked her transition into adulthood. “Someone Like You” was created to help her move on from a breakup with photographer Alex Sturrock. However, “Set Fire to the Rain” was inspired by a more mundane moment when her lighter failed in the rain.

“Hello” is notable for being the first music video filmed with IMAX cameras by director Xavier Dolan and for being the first single to exceed 1 million downloads in a week. Adele has also had 19 songs reach the U.K. Top 75 and 25 songs on the Billboard Hot 100, with eight of those hitting the Top 10.

Grammys and More Awards

Adele has received 16 Grammy Awards out of 25 nominations, with her latest win being Best Solo Pop Performance for “Easy on Me” in 2023. She won her first two Grammys at the 2009 ceremony for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “Chasing Pavements.” In 2012, she achieved a Grammy sweep, winning Song of the Year and Record of the Year for “Rolling in the Deep” and Album of the Year for “21”.

In 2017, Adele became the first artist to sweep the top three Grammy categories twice, with “Hello” winning both Song and Record of the Year and “25” taking Album of the Year. She also won Best Pop Solo Performance and Best Pop Vocal Album that year, bringing her total to five Grammys. During her acceptance speech, Adele called Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” the album of her life. Additionally, “Skyfall,” the theme for the 2012 James Bond film, won the 2014 Grammy for Best Song Written for Visual Media, after also winning an Academy Award and a Golden Globe.

Aside from her Grammys, Adele has received many other honors. Her first album, “19”, earned her the “Sound of 2008” title from the BBC and the Critics’ Choice award at the BRIT Awards in 2008. In 2022, she moved closer to EGOT status by winning an Emmy for Outstanding Prerecorded Variety Special for “Adele: One Night Only”, a two-hour concert and interview with Oprah Winfrey. During the concert, Adele also facilitated a surprise marriage proposal for two fans.

Boyfriend Rich Paul

Since 2021, Adele has been in a relationship with Rich Paul, a sports agent and founder of Klutch Sports Group. The couple first appeared together at the NBA Finals in July 2021, though they had been seeing each other privately for months before that. In September 2023, Adele hinted at being married by calling Paul “my husband” during a concert. The following month, Paul praised their relationship in an interview but did not confirm or deny the marriage rumors.

Son and Ex-Husband

Adele and her former husband Simon Konecki, who is the founder of Life Water and the charity Drop4Drop, began their relationship in late 2011. On June 29, 2012, Adele revealed on her website that she was expecting their first child and shared her enthusiasm about motherhood. Their son, Angelo, was born on October 19, 2012.

In early 2017, Adele was spotted wearing a wedding band, which sparked speculation about her marital status. During her Grammy acceptance speech that year, she appeared to confirm the rumors by referring to Konecki as her husband, though she called him her “partner” in backstage interviews. Records showed they were married in May 2018, but they separated in April 2019, and their divorce was finalized in 2021. They still co-parent their preteen son, Angelo.

Weight Loss

In 2019 and 2020, Adele caught the public’s eye with her dramatic weight loss of around 100 pounds, which she achieved through a new diet and exercise regimen that included weightlifting and circuit training. During her “Saturday Night Live” hosting gig in October 2020, she humorously explained her transformation by saying she had to travel light because of COVID restrictions and chose to bring just “half of me.”

Adele explained that her exercise routine helped reduce her divorce-related anxiety. She said that her focus was not on losing weight but on building strength and creating daily phone-free time for herself, which she became quite passionate about, as she told “British Vogue”.