STACK NZ Nov #68

MUSIC

FEATURE

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HOLA, ADELE W hen you’re speaking about Adele Laurie Blue Adkins, you can’t get away with omitting the modifier

‘independent.’ She might now be one of the brightest and most adored stars in the whole of the musical industry – with myriad awards, honours and critical glory in her hatband – but her story makes clear that without being born into any kind of musical family fanaticism or industry position, it’s possible to make it if you assert your independence. At 14, Adele Laurie Blue Adkins – a Tottenham gal with a single mother who was, although supportive of her child, not connected with music in any way – already loved singing. She replicated tunes by

One day ... Adele came across two artists who would launch her imagination

Destiny’s Child, The Spice Girls and Mary J Blige, putting on loungeroom shows for her mum’s friends. One day while flipping through the CD racks of a music store, Adele came across two artists who would launch her imagination: Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald. Until that point, Adele’s musical interest had been mostly focused on pursuing Artist Relations – that art of catapulting others’ careers – but now a new possibility had opened up: songwriting and singing. She applied for and graduated from the BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology (whose notable alumni include The Kooks, Imogen Heap, Jessie J, King Krule, Leona Lewis and Amy Winehouse) in 2006, with a vague but galvanised dream of performing her own music. A few months later, after a friend posted a three-track demo of the vocalist’s songs on MySpace, Adele was receiving emails from XL Recordings. She began by ignoring them,

The singer-songwriter is solidifying her place in music history with her third album, 25 , out this month. By Zoë Radas

NOVEMBER 2015

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