Adele
- By Ken Werther
Let’s begin by stating the obvious: Adele is one of the world’s best-selling music artists with sales of over 120 million records! Her 2008 debut studio album 19 (she chose that title because that’s the age she was while working on it), spawned two UK top-five singles, Chasing Pavements and Make You Feel My Love. The album was certified 8x platinum in the UK and triple platinum in the US. She also won that year’s Grammy Award for Best New Artist. When her second studio album (called 21), was released in 2011, her life and career truly took off like a rocket. The record became the world’s best-selling album of the 21st century with sales of over 31 million (31 million!) copies. It was certified 17x platinum in the UK (the highest of all time by a solo artist) and Diamond (10 million records sold) in the US. According to Billboard, 21 is the top-performing album in US chart history, topping the Hot 100 for 24 (24!) weeks (the longest for a female artist ever). She was also the first female artist in the history of the Billboard Hot 100 to have three simultaneous top 10 singles as a lead artist, with Rolling in the Deep, Someone Like You, and Set Fire to the Rain. The album received a record-tying six Grammy Awards including Album of the Year. The staggering success of 21 earned Adele numerous mentions in the Guinness Book of World Records. Other accolades include 15 (15!) Grammy Awards and nine Brit Awards. In 2011, 2012, and 2016, Billboard named her Artist of the Year. In 2012 and 2016 she was named Songwriter of the Year by the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers, and Authors, and Time Magazine named her one of the most influential people in the world. Her third tour broke global attendance records. I mean, come on!
Adele’s upcoming fourth studio album, 30, is set for release this month. On October 15, she teased and excited fans with a twitter post and early release of Easy on Me, a track from the album that topped charts in 23 (23!) countries. The songs on the new album, like so much of her music, are inspired by events in her life. They’re raw, rich, and powerful. In the meanwhile, take a look at Vogue Magazine (photo #3) and you will see one beautiful, happy, and fulfilled Adele!
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