Adele

Adele Laurie Blue Adkins, aka Adele (London, May 5, 1988), is a British singer-songwriter, one of the leading pop stars of the 2000s. Alongside Duffy and the late Amy Winehouse, she's considered one of the key figures of the new generation of white soul, thanks to her powerful, raspy voice put to the service of consistently well-crafted and arranged songs.

Her interest in music began to develop during childhood, through listening to groups like the Spice Girls and Destiny's Child. At the age of 13 she became passionate about soul music and artists such as Ella Fitzgerald and Etta James. A year later she enrolled at the BRIT School in Croydon, a well-known music school also attended in those same years by Jessie J, another future English singer.

In 2006 Adele graduated and began pursuing her dream of becoming a singer by recording some songs and uploading them to her MySpace page. This drew public attention and led to invitations onto several British TV shows, quickly earning her widespread recognition. She went on to sign a record deal with XL Recordings.

She made her debut in 2008 with the album "19", which was well received by critics and reached number one on the British and Dutch charts. Her second album, "21", released on January 21, 2011, repeated that success, reaching number one in 25 countries. The song "Someone Like You" became the first single of the decade to sell over a million copies in the UK, while the album containing it settled at around 22 million copies, also making it the best-selling album of 2011.

In 2011, the US magazine Billboard honored Adele with the title of Artist of the Year, while the US magazine Time included her among the world's most influential women.

At the 2013 Academy Awards ceremony, Adele won the Oscar for Best Original Song with "Skyfall", written for the James Bond film of the same name. In recognition of her career achievements, that same year she was made a Member of the Order of the British Empire.

On November 25, 2015, with the release of her third album "25", Adele became the first artist to sell over three million copies in a single week in the United States alone. As of 2015, the English singer had sold around 40 million albums and over 50 million singles worldwide.

After sweeping the Grammy Awards once again (5 out of 5 in 2017), the English singer announced she wanted to step back from touring due to the toll the stress of world tours was taking on her.

In 2021, Adele truly made her full comeback to the music world, releasing the album "30", which was met with great enthusiasm from both fans and critics. After also returning to the stage with a residency in Las Vegas, Adele has announced a series of concerts for 2024.