19 is the debut album by English singer-songwriter Adele. It was released on 28 January 2008, the week after the lead single, "Chasing Pavements", was physically released. It debuted at number one on the UK charts on its first week. Included is a cover of the Bob Dylan song "Make You Feel My Love" from his 1997 album, Time Out Of Mind.

Background

Adele recorded Bob Dylan's "Make You Feel My Love" on the recommendation of her manager Jonathan Dickins, who loved the song. The song "Hometown Glory" has been featured in the British and American television shows Skins, Grey's Anatomy, One Tree Hill, Hollyoaks, Secret Diary of a Call Girl, and most recently danced by Katee Shean and eventual winner, Joshua Allen on So You Think You Can Dance. In July 2008 Adele informed noted UK soul writer Pete Lewis of the award-winning Blues & Soul that the reason for naming her debut album '19' was to reflect her age while she was writing it: "I just kinda remember becoming a bit of a woman during that time. And I think that is definitely documented in the songs." The Taiwanese edition was released on 5 March. As well as the standard tracklist, the album features three bonus tracks: "That's It I Quit I'm Movin' On" ("Chasing Pavements" B-side), "Now and Then" ("Cold Shoulder" B-side) and "Painting Pictures" ("Make You Feel My Love" B-side). The Indonesian special edition was released on 3 March. As well as the standard tracklist, the album features a bonus video for "Chasing Pavements".

Reception

Critical reception

The album has received generally positive reviews from critics. The album was nominated for the 2008 Mercury Prize in the category of Best Album. On 3 December 2008, the album spawned four Grammy Award nominations: Best New Artist, and Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Chasing Pavements". The following year, she received a second consecutive nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, for "Hometown Glory", but lost to "Halo" by Beyoncé. The Guardian gave the album a great review saying "The way she stretched the vowels, her wonderful soulful phrasing, the sheer unadulterated pleasure of her voice, stood out all the more; little doubt that she's a rare singer, which another track first available on her MySpace site, 'Daydreamer', confirmed" they gave the album a five star response. BBC Music gave the album a great review saying "Pitching up somewhere between blues, folk and jazz, she's included something for everyone without ever pandering to a particular trend. Her melodies exude warmth, her singing is occasionally stunning and, in the dramatic Hometown Glory, the spiky cool of Cold Shoulder (which is unexpectedly reminiscent of Shara Nelson-era Massive Attack) and the piano epic Make You Feel My Love, she has tracks that make Lily Allen and Kate Nash sound every bit as ordinary as they are".web

Artist/Band Information

Adele Laurie Blue AdkinsFrehsée, Nicole (22 January 2009), "Meet Adele, the U.K.'s Newest Soul Star". Rolling Stone. (1070):26 (born 5 May 1988), known professionally as Adele,See . is a British 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. In 2009, Adele won two Grammy Awards, Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, at the 51st Grammy Awards. Daily Mail Retrieved 21 February 2011 Daily Mirror Retrieved 21 February 2011

Adele attracted the attention of XL Recordings with a three-song demo posted on MySpace and subsequently signed with the label. Since her debut, 19, Adele has received much recognition both commercially and critically. The album debuted at number one, and has been certified 3x 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 21 on 24 January 2011 in the UK, and 22 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 Album Chart, and also charted in the same position in nine other countries. Reuters Retrieved 28 February 2011 The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 in the US, selling 352,000 copies in its first week. BBC News Retrieved 4 March 2011

After an acclaimed performance at the 2011 BRIT Awards, the album track "Someone Like You" went straight to 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. Billboard Retrieved 21 February 2011 The Official Charts Company announced that Adele is the first living artist to achieve the feat of two top five hits in both the Official Singles Chart and the Official Albums Chart simultaneously since The Beatles in 1964. Daily Mail Retrieved 21 February 2011 MTV Retrieved 21 February 2011

Life and career

Early life

Adele Laurie Blue Adkins was born in Tottenham, North London, on 5 May 1988. Daily Mail Retrieved 22 February 2011 She began singing at age four and asserts that she became obsessed with voices. Adele has cited the Spice Girls as a major influence in regards to her love and passion for music, stating that "they made me what I am today." Adele would also impersonate the Spice Girls at dinner parties as a young girl. To make her look like the singer Gabrielle, her mother made an eye patch with sequins, which Adele said was embarrassing. Adele then claimed she was influenced by the music of the Spice Girls, Jeff Buckley, The Cure, Billy Bragg, Etta James and Peggy Lee in her teens, as she stumbled on the artists' CDs at a local HMV store while looking for a new hairstyle. Adele wrote the music for her first record, "Hometown Glory" when she was 16 years old.

2006–09: 19

Adele graduated from BRIT School in Croydon in May 2006, where she was classmates with Leona Lewis.Collis, Clark (19 December 2008), "Spotlight on... Adele". Entertainment Weekly. (1026):62 Adele credits the school with nurturing her talent. In school, she was more interested in going into A&R, and hoped to launch other people's careers. Four months later, she published two songs on the fourth issue of the online arts publication PlatformsMagazine.com. She had 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. She doubted if the offer was real because the only record company she knew was Virgin Records, and she took a friend with her to the meeting. Billboard. Retrieved 2 July 2008. Nick Huggett at XL recommended Adele to manager Jonathan Dickins at September Management and in June 2006 Dickins became her official representative. September was managing Jamie T at the time and this proved a major attraction for Adele who was a big fan of the English singer-songwriter. Huggett then signed Adele to XL in September 2006.

Adele.jpgthumb230pxAdele performing in Kilburn, London in 2007

Adele's breakthrough song, "Hometown Glory", was released in October 2007. Adele provided vocals for Jack Peñate's song, "My Yvonne", from his debut album. Adele became 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. She released her second single "Chasing Pavements" on 14 January 2008, two weeks ahead of her debut album, 19. "Chasing Pavements" reached number two on the UK Chart, and stayed there for four weeks, finally remaining in the Top 40 14 weeks after its release. The album itself entered the British charts at number one. The Times Encyclopedia of Modern Music would name 19 an "essential" Blue Eyed Soul recording.

On 19 March 2008 Adele signed a deal which involved a joint venture between Columbia Records and XL Recordings for her foray into the US. In March 2008, she embarked on a short North American tour. On 20 June, the album was released in the US. The album was certified as gold in February 2009 by the Recording Industry Association of America. By July 2009, the album had sold 2.2 million copies worldwide. Adele cancelled a 2008 US tour to be with a former boyfriend. She said in Nylon magazine in June 2009, "I was drinking far too much and that was kind of the basis of my relationship with this boy. I couldn't bear to be without him, so I was like, 'Well, OK, I'll just cancel my stuff then ... I can't believe I did that ... It seems so ungrateful". In November 2008 Adele moved to Notting Hill after leaving her mother's house, a move that prompted her to give up drinking.

By October 2008, Adele's attempt to break into America seemed to have failed. However, it was announced that she would be the musical guest on the 18 October episode of Saturday Night Live (SNL). The episode was hotly anticipated, because of an appearance by then US vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, SNL earned its best ratings in 14 years with a total of 17 million viewers. Adele performed "Chasing Pavements" and "Cold Shoulder", and the following day, 19 topped the iTunes charts and ranked at number five at Amazon.com while "Chasing Pavements" rose into the twenty-five. The week of 26 October the album reached number eleven on the Billboard 200, a jump of thirty-five places over the previous week. Several weeks later, she returned to the US for an 11-city tour. Adele was nominated for a 2008 Mercury Prize award for 19. She also won an Urban Music Award for "Best Jazz Act". She also received a Q Awards nomination in the category of Breakthrough Act and a Music of Black Origin nomination in the category of Best UK Female.

At the 51st Grammy Awards in 2009, Adele won awards in the categories of Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. She was also nominated for in the categories of Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Adele launched a 15-city North American tour that started 9 March. Adele was also nominated for three Brit Awards in the categories of Best British Female, Best British Single and Best British Breakthrough Act. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown sent a thank you letter to Adele that stated "with the troubles that the country's in financially, you're a light at the end of the tunnel." Adele relaunched the MTV Unplugged series with a six song acoustic set in June. On 28 June, Adele headlined a three-act bill at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, California. Etta James, originally slated to perform but suddenly taken ill, was replaced by Chaka Khan. Adele dueted with Daniel Merriweather on a track called "Water and a Flame" from his debut album Love & War.

2010–present: 21

In 2010, Adele received a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Hometown Glory". In April her song "My Same" entered the German Singles Chart after it had been performed by Lena Meyer-Landrut in the talent show contest Unser Star für Oslo (Our Star for Oslo), in which the German entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 2010 was determined. In late September, after being featured on The X Factor, Adele's version of Bob Dylan's Make You Feel My Love re-entered the UK singles chart at number 4.

Adele released her second studio album, 21, on 24 January 2011 in the UK and released it on 22 February in the U.S. The album's sound is described as classic and contemporary roots and country music. The change in sound from her first album was the result of her bus driver playing contemporary Nashville music when she was touring the American South. Adele told Spin Magazine that "He listened to all this amazing country music and we'd rock out late at night, chain smoking and listening to Rascal Flatts" "It was really exciting for me because I never grew up around ." In explaining the title choice, she states that it reflects the growth she has experienced in the last two years. The first single is a revenge tune "Rolling in the Deep", Adele described it as a "dark bluesy gospel disco tune." 21 hit No. 1 in Ireland, Germany, Holland, New Zealand, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium and in March 2011 it debuted at number 1 in the United States and stayed there for another week before dropping to number 2. In the United Kingdom, where the album also hit the top spot, it sold 208,000 copies in its first week making it the biggest-selling January release in five years. The single "Rolling in the Deep" was well received by critics and has reached number 13 on the Billboard 100

Adele remained number one for the second week with "Someone Like You" and album 21 stayed at the top of the album chart for the 5th week in a row, with "Rolling in the Deep" also remaining in the top five singles chart and 19 climbing up to number 2 in the album chart despite being released 3 years ago. BBC Radio 1 Retrieved 23 February 2011 It is the first time that one act has held the top two places in the UK albums chart since The Corrs in 1999.

Other work

Adele supported Will Young at the 2007 MENCAP Little Noise Sessions, a charity concert at London's Union Chapel. In 2008 she was the headliner and performed a stripped down acoustic that was supported by Damien Rice. In July 2008, Adele paid £8,000 for a commissioned painting by Stella Vine in a charity auction in aid of Keep a Child Alive, a charity that helps African children and their families living with HIV/AIDS. Adele said she planned to ask Vine to paint a portrait of "my mum and me.", 11 July 2008. Retrieved 12 December 2008. On 17 September 2009, Adele performed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, for the VH1 "Divas" event, a concert to raise money for the Save The Music Foundation charity. On 6 December, Adele opened with a 40-minute set at John Mayer's 2nd Annual Holiday Charity Revue held at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, California.

Artistry

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 praises 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. The British press has dubbed her a new Amy Winehouse. Adele has also been linked to a third British Musical Invasion of the US. Adele commented that while this phenomenon was unexpected she was "proud to be a part of it. I'm very pleased to be riding the wave." In December she said that Duffy was The Sound of 2008 and called the comparisons with other females lazy noting "we're a gender, not a genre". Adele, comparing herself to Amy Winehouse and Duffy, said "I think Amy is hardcore," "I think Duffy is really soft – she's got the pin-up look going on. She's a proper lady. I think I'm really contemporary. And I'm just really mouthy!" By the beginning of 2009 listeners and critics started to describe Adele as unique. AllMusic wrote that "Adele is simply too magical to compare her to anyone."

Venus Zine recognized Adele on its 25 under 25 list of women for her “distinctive, unusual voice” that “blends the bubbly clarity of pop with the sophisticated phrasings of jazz and blues.

Discography

*2008: 19

*2009: Live From SoHo (iTunes EP)

*2011: 21

Awards

References