Once upon a time there was a little girl, Adele was her name, who was dreaming about becoming a singer. She dreamt about stepping on stage in front of thousands of people who would listen to her and cheer. She dreamt about going downtown for a walk one day, and see at the news stall tons of newspapers and magazines with her name and photo on their front page. And at some point, without her even notice, the Fairy Godmother shake her magic wand and all the girl’s dreams came true.
She proved to be special and her music sets her apart from the crowd of white female soul singers she was originally lumped in with, such as Duffy, Joss Stone and Pixie Lott. Four years ago, Adele recorded a three-song demo for a class project and gave it to a friend who posted it on MySpace where it became very successful and led to a phone call from music label XL Recordings that recognized her talent and gave her surprisingly more freedom than to any other singers they work with. Adele was free to chose who she worked with, which tracks to release as singles and have a say on how her records were marketed and even the right to chose not to play music festivals, a decision that for many artists was a death sentence for their music career.
So signing to XL Recordings opened the doors for success. In 2007, she released her breakthrough song, “Hometown Glory” but she caught the attention of critics and journalists a year later, when she released her debut album, 19, that entered the British charts at number one. Suddenly, people became very interested in hearing more from the follow-up. By 2009, the album had sold 2.2 million copies worldwide, British-born Adele won two Grammy Awards, Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, at the 51st Grammy Awards, and some critics say that the success of the album is because Adele took her inspiration from her life when writing the songs. “My debut album is about being between 18 and 19; about love,” she wrote on her site.
Moreover, a success couldn’t have been followed but by another success. So, on 24 January 2011 in the UK, and 22 February in the US, Adele released her second album, 21. Now, she is knocking well established artists off the top spot with ease, maintaining her position at the top of the UK album chart for a 13th week, surpassing Madonna’s nine weeks at number one back in 1990. Besides, just seven weeks after its release, 21 was certified as having gone seven times platinum, with sales in excess of 2.1m copies. The album also has charted at number one in 17 European countries and the US and it’s no surprise since the entire album is very emotional.
Therefore, in a world where record labels are constantly trying to find the new Lady Gaga, Adele’s dream of becoming a successful singer came true and now she hopes it will never end as there is nothing else she wants to do. She loves writing her own songs but has trouble explaining the lyrics to people.
