Adele - Set Fire to the Rain Lyrics

Interview: Adele

As of this writing, 21 — the sophomore set from bluesy British belter Adele — has just gone platinum, and is currently sitting pretty at the pinnacle of Billboard’s album chart. And, believe it or not, she’s actually the first artist in 2011 to sell more than a million copies. In her native England, 21 occupied the top spot for so many weeks, it dragged her three-year-old debut, 19, all the way back up to the second slot — a feat unequalled since Ireland’s Corrs achieved it way back in 1999.

Appearing: Tuesday, May 24th at Riviera Theatre in Chicago.

Aesthetically, 21 (Columbia) deserves all the kudos. Kicking off with the stomping gospel-flavored single “Rolling In The Deep,” co-penned with Paul Epworth. Her current overseas smash, the breakup-themed “Someone Like You,” is a gorgeous piano ballad that captures the rasp-throated singer at her evocative best. And for the rest of the set, Adele teamed up with such stellar co-writers as One Republic’s Ryan Tedder, ex-Semisonic leader Dan Wilson, and London’s new go-to collaborator, Francis “Eg” White. She also does great renditions of The Cure’s “Love Song,” and — for a special bonus-disc edition sold at Target — Lady Antebellum’s “Need You Now,” in a duet with former Hootie & The Blowfish growler Darius Rucker.

But promotion-wise, Adele (who performs sans surname of Adkins) has really put in the nerve-wracking hours to make this disc a hit. In the dead of winter, she recently flew to Target headquarters in Minneapolis — where Best Buy also happens to be located — for a private executives-only concert. “Target and Best Buy are a massive part to do with me,” explains the Grammy winner, who will soon turn 23. “So of course I’m gonna go see them. And I saw both of them at the same time, but at separate meetings. And you should’ve seen the plane I had to get on! The plane was so tiny, and I’m the worst flier. So to go to Minneapolis, to play for Best Buy and Target, I literally had to get on a Flintstones plane, an American Eagle. It was horrible!”

What, exactly, is an audience of Target bigwigs like? Adele cackles with delight. “They. Were. Wild. I mean, wild. The first time I went on the last record, I was in a tiny office with about four people. This time, I was in a 500-capacity room and about 1,000 people turned up. And it was like performing to a roomful of gays! It was amazing — they were all cheering and whooping. It was crazy!”

And Yes, Adele adds, knowing what you’re thinking before you ask it. “I’ve been to an actual Target store. I bought a jumper there for quite cheap, a sweater, and it was lovely. So I really like Target, and that’s where I go and do my shopping when I’m on tour.” And even though the chain has exclusive rights to 21’s deluxe edition, she says, “They’re not gonna give me any freeblies because of that. So I don’t get anything, no deals. But I don’t believe in paying less for things when you can actually afford them.”

Indeed. Things have been going well for this young artist. Thanks to the breakthrough success of 19 and its flagship smash “Chasing Pavements” (written, of course, when she was only 19, fresh out of the BRIT performing-arts school), she was able to finally move from her mother’s house into her own brand-new apartment, and purchase mom a car on the way out. “And I do love a bag, so I don’t mind spending any amount on a good bag,” she says. “And I’ve also got about 5,000 CDs. The thing is, if I love an album, I buy it digitally and physically. I try to make up for the fact that some people aren’t buying it.” She’s also given up drinking, and received a new sense of self-worth in return.

And according to Adele, two key factors went into the making of 21. On tour through the American South a year ago, her bus driver kept bombarding his charges with country music. The Etta James fan resisted at first, but gradually fell into the loping groove. “And I was like, ‘Who the fuck is this?’ I’d never heard it!” she recalls. “Like Garth Brooks. I’d never heard of Garth Brooks up until about 15 months ago. So I got into Garth Brooks, Loretta Lynn, early Dolly Parton, The Carter Family, Johnny Cash stuff. I just found it fascinating, and it just resonated with me straightaway, because it’s got that storytelling and honesty that I love. But I’m more intrigued by it because it’s not part of my culture in England. I mean, if I mention any one of those artists to anyone in my family — apart from Johnny Cash and Dolly Parton — they’d be like, ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about — who are they, your friends?’ They’d have no idea.”

Adele - ''Someone Like You''

Biography

Adele Laurie Blue Adkins, (born 5 May 1988), is a Grammy Award-Winning English singer-songwriter from Enfield, North London. Her debut album, 19, was released in January 2008 and entered the UK album chart at #1. The album has since received four-times Platinum certification for domestic sales exceeding 1,200,000 units. The album included the hugely popular song, Chasing Pavements. 19 earned Adele two Grammy Awards in February 2009 for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

Her second album, 21, was released on January 24th 2011 in the UK where it has since been certified ten-times Platinum for shipments in excess of 3,000,000 copies. 21 has also achieved multi-platinum status in the US, with shipments of over 2,000,000 copies. The album was released in the US and Canada on Tuesday February 22nd 2011. The album has spawned two singles thus far including Rolling In The Deep, Adele’s first US number one single, and Someone Like You, her first UK number one single. As of September 2011, 21 has sold an estimated ten million copies worldwide, with sales projections as high as thirteen million by the end of the year.

Adele graduated from BRIT School in Croydon in May 2006, where she was classmates with Leona Lewis. 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. Nick Huggett at XL Recordings 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 Recordings in September 2006.

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.

Adele - Rolling In The Deep