Adele Laurie Blue Adkins MBE (born 5 May 1988) is an English singer-songwriter. After graduating from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a recording contract with XL Recordings. In 2007, she received the Brit Awards Critics' Choice Award and won the BBC Sound of 2008 poll. Her debut album, 19, was released in 2008 to commercial and critical success. At the 51st Grammy Awards in 2009, Adele won the awards for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

Adele released her second studio album, 21, in 2011. The album was critically well-received and surpassed the success of her debut, earning numerous awards in 2012, among them a record-tying six Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year; two Brit Awards, including British Album of the Year; and three American Music Awards, including Favorite Pop/Rock Album. The album has been certified 17 times platinum in the UK, and is overall the fourth best-selling album in the nation...