The beautiful voice of Adele!

Adele Laurie Blue Adkins was born on May 5, 1988 and is known under the mononym Adele. She is an English singer-songwriter. She was the first recipient of the BRIT Awards Critics’ Choice and was named the number-one predicted breakthrough act of 2008 in an annual BBC poll of music critics, Sound of 2008. Adele won the awards for Best New Artiste and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 2009 Grammy Awards, At the age of 11, Adele and her mother, a furniture-maker and adult learning activities organiser moved to West Norwood, South London. West Norwood is the subject for Adele’s first record, “Hometown Glory”, written when she was 16. After moving to South London, she became interested in R&B artistes such as Aaliyah, Destiny’s Child and Mary J Blige. Since her debut, Adele 19, has received much recognition both commercially and critically. The album debuted at number one, and has been certified four times platinum in the UK.Her career in the US was boosted by a viewer record-breaking Saturday Night Live episode in late 2008. Adele released her second album in January 2011 in the UK, and in February in the US. The album was a critical and commercial success, selling 208,000 copies in its first week in the UK and debuting at number one on the UK Albums Chart, a position it managed to hold for sixteen weeks. In the UK, 21 has been certified ten times Platinum for the shipment of 3.0 million units. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 in the United States, selling 352,000 copies in its first week. The album has charted at number one in 17 European countries and the US. After performing at the 2011 BRIT Awards, the album track “Someone Like You” reached number one in the United Kingdom, while the album also remained at number one. “Someone Like You” held the number one position for four consecutive weeks. The song has also spent two weeks at number one in New Zealand and five weeks at number one in Australia. The Official Charts Company said that Adele is the first living artiste to achieve the feat of two top five hits in the Official Singles Chart and the Official Albums Chart simultaneously since The Beatles in 1964. The album 21 was number one for eleven consecutive weeks in the UK, the longest ever by a female solo artiste on the UK Albums Chart, surpassing Madonna’s nine weeks at number one in 1990 with her greatest hits compilation The Immaculate Collection. In the US, the album has spent nine weeks at the top of the Billboard 200 to date. The album has also broken the record for the most UK digital downloads. As of May 2011 the singer was worth £6 million tying her with Lily Allen and Duffy for ninth place on the list of the richest British and Irish music stars under age 30. Adele Laurie Blue Adkins was born in Tottenham, London, England, to a single teenage mother on May 5, 1988. She began singing at age four and asserts that she became obsessed with voices. She has described her musical style as “heartbroken soul.” Adele agrees with critics who have suggested that her vocals are more developed and intriguing than her songwriting. She also received praise from Paul Rees, editor of Q magazine, who said it was “refreshing to hear something different” after a thousand years of “identikit bands who want to sound like The Libertines.” Her music was described by the Richmond Times-Dispatch music critic as “a perfect backdrop to a lazy afternoon in the coffee shop.” Adele’s success occurred simultaneously with several other British female soul singers but she seems to have made a clean and proper image of her own which is a good example for budding singers to follow. (Courtesy www.adele.tv)