Ally Azzarelli - Adele!. Singing Sensation

Adele!

Adeles first album, 19, won two Grammy Awards in 2009. In 2012, she became the second female artist to win six awards in one night for her second album, 21. Read about Adeles early life, her musical career, and her plans and goals for the future.

Quotes, personal stories, and accessible features make this a book everyone will want to read.

With an incredibly beautiful voice, Adele writes her own music and sings from her heart. Read about this singing sensation.

About the Author

Ally Azzarelli began writing about celebrities at age twelve for Long Island Newsdays Kidsday column. She has interviewed Justin Timberlake, Beyonc, and Britney Spears.

Adele looks at her award for Best Original Song in a Motion Picture for Skyfall at the 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards on January 13, 2013.

Who would think three songs on a Myspace page could make a girl famous? Not Adele! And, it wasnt even her idea to post them. She has a friend to thank for that. Adele made a demo as a class project. A demo is a sample of different songs. Adeles friend created the Myspace music page for her on New Years Eve 2004.

Within a year, e-mails from record labels came into Adeles inbox. She thought it was a prank or Internet hoax. She had never heard of a record company called Island or XLtwo of the record labels that contacted her. At first she ignored their messages. Then, after her mom insisted, she returned a call. She met with a representative from XL. The label signed her on the spot.

Adele Laurie Blue Adkins was born May 5, 1988, in Tottenham, North London. It was a poor area. Many people didnt have jobs. The crime rate there is twice as high as it is for England. Her mom had many jobs. She was a masseuse (someone who gives massages), furniture maker, and office worker. Adeles parents lived together until she was three. Then her dad moved out. Her mom has always been there for her. Shes a great mum. Shes always been supportive. Shes my best friend, Adele told People magazine.

Adele and her mom moved around a lot. When she was nine, they moved to Brighton; at ten, to Brixton; and then to neighboring West Norwood, in South London, which later became known in her hit Hometown Glory. They didnt have a lot of money. They often lived in government-paid housing. But this didnt stop Adele from dreaming. Adeles mom told her she could be whatever she wanted. But her mom also said she should keep her options open.

A fan of music at a young age, Adele enjoyed singing for her moms friends when they visited. Her mom would gather lights together, like stage lights. Adele would feel like she was in the spotlight. Adele liked singing Spice Girls songs. The Spice Girls are an all-girl English pop group. They were popular in the mid-90s. In 2012, they made a comeback, inspiring a musical and performing at the closing ceremony of the Summer Olympics. Adele especially loved Mel B, also known as Scary Spice. Adele considers the Spice Girls a major inspiration. She started listening to them when she was seven. I love the Spice Girls because they made me who I am, she told Nowmagazine.com.

The British girl group the Spice Girls was a major inspiration for Adele.

Gabrielle, a fellow Brit singer from London, is also a role model for her. Gabrielle is known for her style and fashionable eye patch. She sings jazz and rhythm and blues. Gabrielle has a lazy eye. Although Adele didnt have an eye condition, her mom made her a sequined eye patch so she could look like Gabrielle!

Adele knew she wanted to be a singer after seeing P!nk in concert.

Adeles early inspiration also came from Etta James, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, and Jeff Buckley. She also likes Aaliyah, Mary J. Blige, Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys, and Beyonc. Adeles most memorable concert was when she saw P!nk. It was the Missundaztood record, so I was about 13 or 14, Adele told Spinner.com. I had never heard, being in the room, someone sing like that live. I remember sort of feeling, like I was in a wind tunnel, her voice just hitting me. It was incredible, she said of P!nks Brixton Academy concert. The concert made a big impression on Adele. She knew around that time, age fourteen, that she wanted to be a singer.

Adele fell in love with the jazzy, bluesy music shes known for when she was shopping for a new hairstyle. She was going through the sale bin at British record store HMV. Looking for hairstyle ideas on the covers, she came across albums by Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald. [Etta James] was the first time a voice made me stop what I was doing and sit down and listen, Adele told Rolling Stone. It took over my body.

And to think, when Adele came across her first Etta James album, she had no idea who she was. She loved how Etta looked. She just loved her style! I bought the record not knowing anything about her. didnt listen to it for ages, and then a couple years laterat 15, and everything was changed.

There was no musical heritage in our family, Adele told the Telegraph in a 2008 interview. Chart music was all I ever knew. So when I listened to the Ellas and the Ettas. it was like an awakening. I was like, Oh right, some people have [long careers] and are legends. I was so inspired that as a 15-year-old, I was listening to music that had been made in the 40s. She discovered the difference between singers who have the quick No. 1 hit, and those who are around a long time. Their music becomes a part of history.

Etta James was a major inspiration for Adele. Here, James performs at the Vine St. Bar & Grill in Hollywood in 1987.

Dan Smith and Shingai Shoniwa of the Noisettes arriving for the Sony Radio Academy Awards 2010. Shingai inspired Adele to write her own music.

During Adeles secondary school, or junior high, she met kids who liked R&B music. She would sing with her new friends on the playground. Adele joined the choir. Having a teacher helped perfect her singing. Her school required her to play an instrument. She chose the clarinet. She realized she preferred singing. She then found a school that allowed her to focus on singingher true love!

By the time she was fourteen, Adele had been singing and playing the guitar and clarinet for years. Adele auditioned for Londons BRIT school, a performing arts high school. Her mom supported her all the way. Other artists, such as Amy Winehouse, Leona Lewis, Jessie J, and Kate Nash also went to the school. It was like