23 monumental moments in Adele's career that made her a superstar
She's an icon of her generation!
Adele is arguably one of the most beloved and talented singers in the world - it's no wonder she's racked up all the awards she's won over the years, including the Best Pop Solo Performance for 'Easy On Me' at the 2023 Grammys!
After being awarded the first-ever Critics' Choice (now the Rising Star Award) at the BRIT Awards in 2008, Adele has gone onto achieve a huge amount in her career - including her 'Weekends With Adele' Las Vegas residency. Join us as we take a look through Adele's complete career timeline from way back in 2006 when she graduated from the BRIT School...
How did Adele the singer get famous?
2006
Adele began singing at the age of four, and as a teenager used to play guitar and sing to her friends in Brockwell Park. A product of the BRIT School in London, Adele graduated in 2006 at the age of 18. She recorded a three-song demo for a class project, and gave it to a friend who posted in on MySpace - and its popularity on the site led to a recording contract with XL Recordings.
2007
In 2007, Adele made her television debut, singing 'Daydreamer' on Later... with Jools Holland, and released her debut single 'Hometown Glory', which she wrote at the age of 16.
2008
Adele won the first-ever BRIT Awards Critics' Choice in 2008, and released her debut album, '19', which also featured singles 'Chasing Pavements', 'Make You Feel My Love' and 'Cold Shoulder'. It debuted at Number 1 in the UK, and is thought to have sold around 7 million copies worldwide. Adele was nominated for a Mercury Prize for the album.
2009
2009 was a big year for Adele - she won two gongs at the Grammy Awards that year: Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for 'Chasing Pavements'. She was also nominated for three BRIT Awards, and went on her first world tour: 'An Evening with Adele'.
2010
Adele had another Grammy nomination in 2010, once again the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance but this time for 'Hometown Glory'.
2011
Adele released her second album, '21', in 2011, spawning singles 'Rolling in the Deep', 'Rumour Has It', 'Set Fire to the Rain' and 'Someone like You'. It was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize, and Adele embarked on her second worldwide tour, 'Adele Live'. Unfortunately, Adele was forced to cancel some of the dates due to a vocal-cord haemorrhage, releasing a statement to say that she needed long-term rest to avoid permanent damage, and underwent laser microsurgery. She was also rumoured to be dating Simon Konecki in Summer 2011.
'Set Fire to the Rain' has since been certified 4x Platinum.
2012
For '21', Adele won all six of the categories she was nominated for at the Grammys, including Album of the Year - this made her the second female artist in history to win that many awards in one single night after Beyoncé. She also won the British Album of the Year at the BRIT Awards. Adele also co-wrote and performed the title track to the 2012 James Bond film, Skyfall.
Adele announced in April 2012 that she would be taking a couple of years off, saying: "I have to take time and live a little bit. There were a good two years between my first and second albums, so it'll be the same this time." In June 2012, Adele announced that she was expecting her first baby with Simon, and their son Angelo was born in October that year.
2013
'Skyfall' earned Adele and co-writer Paul Epworth (pictured) a Golden Globe Award and the Academy Award for Best Original Song. She also won the Best Pop Solo Performance Grammy Award for her live version of 'Set Fire to the Rain'. Adele was also awarded an MBE in 2013 for services to music.
2014
In 2014, Adele stuck to her career break, and was not seen out in public very much. She also won her 10th Grammy for Best Song Written for Visual Media for 'Skyfall', and posted a cryptic tweet, teasing that a new album was on the way.
2015
Adele released her single 'Hello' in October 2015, and released her third album, '25', in November 2015. She said of the album: "My last record was a break-up record, and if I had to label this one, I would call it a make-up record. Making up for lost time. Making up for everything I ever did and never did. 25 is about getting to know who I've become without realising. And I'm sorry it took so long but, you know, life happened."
It debuted at Number 1 in the UK and became the fastest-selling album in UK chart history. It was the best-selling album worldwide of 2015, and stayed at the top of the UK charts for seven weeks.
2016
Adele went on her third worldwide tour, 'Adele Live 2016', in 2016, and won four BRIT Awards - British Female Solo Artist, Global Success Award, British Album of the Year for '25' and British Single of the Year for 'Hello', also performing at the ceremony with 'When We Were Young'. Adele also headlined Glastonbury Festival, and called it the "best moment" of her life so far.
2017
Adele continued her world tour in 2017, and ended it with two dates in Wembley. She'd added a further two, but was forced to cancel them after damaging her voice. Adele won all five of her nominations at the Grammy Awards 2017: '25' won Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album, and 'Hello' won Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance. She dedicated her Album of the Year win to Beyoncé, and said that she should have won instead for 'Lemonade', saying in her acceptance speech: "I can't possibly accept this award. And I'm very humbled and I'm very grateful and gracious. But my artist of my life is Beyoncé. And this album to me, the 'Lemonade' album, is just so monumental. Beyoncé, it's so monumental. And so well thought out, and so beautiful and soul-baring and we all got to see another side to you that you don't always let us see. And we appreciate that. And all us artists here adore you. You are our light."
She also performed a tribute to George Michael, who passed away on Christmas Day 2016. She sang 'Fastlove', and had to restart due to technical difficulties, telling the audience: "I can't mess this up for him." Adele also confirmed she'd gotten married to Simon Konecki in her Grammys Album acceptance speech.
2019
After taking time off in 2018 and 2019 to work on new music, Adele sparked rumours on her 31st birthday that an album could be on the way very soon, sharing a message to her Instagram page which ended with '30 will be a drum n bass record to spite you.' In April, Adele's representatives announced that she and Simon had separated, and she filed for divorce in September 2019.
2020
In June 2020, Adele re-watched her iconic Glastonbury 2016 set with millions of others as the BBC showed replays due to that year's festival being postponed. The singer was asked in the comments section when fans can expect her new album, to which she responded by saying: 'Of course it's not. Corona ain't over. I'm quarantining. Wear a mask and be patient.'
2020
Adele appeared as a host on Saturday Night Live in October 2020, writing on Instagram: 'Had the best time on SNL! Thank you to the most wonderful cast, crew, writers and producers. What a sublime bunch of people you are. Lorne thank you for believing in me! Lindsay my sister for life, Maya my comedy and Mama hero! Plus the so up for it audiences at both the dress rehearsal and live show! I did it for the joy of it and I hope you got some from it too! Good luck with the election America I love you so much. Look after each other and go easy on yourselves. Happy Halloween! I'm going back to my cave now to be the (single) cat lady that I am! Peace out til next year ♥️.'
She also wrote before her performance: 'Bloooooody hellllll I'm so excited about this!! And also absolutely terrified! My first ever hosting gig and for SNL of all things!!!! I've always wanted to do it as a stand alone moment, so that I could roll up my sleeves and fully throw myself into it, but the time has never been right. But if there was ever a time for any of us to jump head first into the deep end with our eyes closed and hope for the best it's 2020 right? It'll be almost 12 years to the day that I first appeared on the show, during an election... which went on to break my career in America, so it feels full circle and I just couldn't possibly say no! I am besides myself that H.E.R will be the musical guest!! I love her SO much I can't wait to melt into a flaming hot mess when she performs, then confuse myself while I laugh my arse off in between it all. See you next week ♥️🤞🏻.'
2021
On Friday 15th October 2021, Adele delighted fans around the world when she released her first single in nearly six years 'Easy On Me'. The video even features scenes from the same house where the video for 'Hello' was filmed. The single was the first off of Adele's new album '30', which was released in November 2021. Adele revealed the album was for her son Angelo: "The whole album is sort of dedicated to my son more than anything, but yeah it's about my relationship with his dad and with him, but also you know the relationship I have with myself and stuff like that."
2021
On Friday 19th November 2021, Adele's comeback album (about 'divorce') was released. Her fourth album '30' consists of 12 songs and three bonus tracks, featuring songs 'My Little Love', 'I Drink Wine', 'Cry Your Heart Out' and 'Woman Like Me'. In a candid Instagram post, Adele said: 'I'm so ready to put this album out. It was my ride or die throughout the most turbulent period of my life. When I was writing it, it was my friend who came over with a bottle of wine and a takeaway to come and cheer me up.'
2021
After weeks of rumours, Adele confirmed on 30th November that she would be kicking off her very own Las Vegas residency. The shows were scheduled to take place from January to April 2022. Sharing a picture announcing the exciting news, Adele wrote: 'See you at Caesars in Vegasss ✨' (sic). Sadly, just 24 hours before her first performance, Adele shared a video on her Instagram, tearfully revealing the news that she has had to reschedule the dates, due to the show not being ready.
2021
After weeks of rumours, Adele confirmed on 30th November that she would be kicking off her very own Las Vegas residency. The shows were scheduled to take place from January to April 2022. Sharing a picture announcing the exciting news, Adele wrote: 'See you at Caesars in Vegasss ✨' (sic). Sadly, just 24 hours before her first performance, Adele shared a video on her Instagram, tearfully revealing the news that she has had to reschedule the dates, due to the show not being ready.
2022
Adele truly stunned as she arrived on the red carpet at The BRIT Awards 2022 with Mastercard. As well as giving us all an incredible performance of her track 'I Drink Wine', which features on her latest album '30', Adele bagged THREE awards during the ceremony. Adele picked up the awards for Song of the Year, Artist of the Year and Mastercard Album of the Year, giving her a whopping total of 12 BRIT Awards at that point.
2022-2024
Adele started her 'Weekends with Adele' Las Vegas residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in November 2022. The residency was scheduled to end in November 2023, but was extended until November 2024.
2023
Adding to her Grammy Award collection, Adele took home Best Pop Solo Performance for 'Easy On Me' at the 2023 Grammys in February 2023. Although she was nominated for a couple more, she had the best reactions to Beyoncé and Lizzo taking the gongs instead of her - that's real friendship right there!
2024
As well as continuing with her Vegas residency, Adele announced in January 2024 that she would perform several gigs in Munich. The singer will be performing in a purpose-built open air arena with a capacity of 80,000 in August 2024. After her initial dates were announced, she added several more due to high demand. She eventually performed 10 sold-out gigs in August.
2024
Adele revealed in an interview in July 2024 that she would be taking another career break following her Vegas residency and Munich shows. Speaking to German broadcaster ZDF ahead of her Munich shows next month, Adele said: "My tank is quite empty at the minute. I don't have any plans for new music at all. I want a big break after all this and I think I want to do other creative things just for a little while. You know, I don't even sing at home at all. How strange is that?"
Then, on the last day of her Munich residency she told her fans: "I will not see you for an incredibly long time, and I will hold you dear in my heart for that whole length of my break."
You can hear Adele's biggest hits on the Northsound 1 playlist.
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