Born in Tottenham on May 5, 1988, Adele has an estimated net worth of £50 million.
She cultivated a passion for singing from the age of four. In 2006, following graduation from Croydon’s BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology, Adele’s demo on Myspace, prompted XL Recordings’ Richard Russell to take her under his wing. “Hometown Glory”, Adele’s first record was released in 2007 (composed in 2004).
Did Adele become a multimillionaire after being discovered on MySpace or did she have other ventures?
Her second single “Chasing Pavements” from her debut album 19 sprinted to second spot, while the album whizzed to the British Chart summit (2008), collecting quadruple platinum in Britain and double platinum in the US. Adele won the Brit Awards Critics’ Choice and Sound of 2008’s Number-One Predicted Breakthrough Act, besides two Grammys (Best Female Pop Vocal Performance and Best New Artist), with the RIAA certifying 19 as Gold, in 2009.
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In 2011, her second studio album — 21 — shot to top spot in Britain and the US. Adele’s “Someone like You” became an instant hit and brought back 19 into the British album charts alongside 21. “Rolling in the Deep” and “Someone like You”, the first and second singles from 21, graced the British top five, making Adele the first living artist, after the Beatles in 1964, to produce two concurrent top-fives, with “Someone like You” also ruling top spot on US’ Billboard Hot 100.
By 2011, 21 became the 21st century’s biggest-selling album, making Adele the first singer to sell 3.4 million copies in one calendar year, in Britain. With “Set Fire to the Rain” topping Billboard, Adele became the first singer to have a chart-topping album (21) on the Billboard 200 alongside three top-ranking singles.
In 2011, Adele’s Live at the Royal Albert Hall DVD (video of the “Adele Live” sold out tour), topped the US charts creating another record — the year’s top-ranking album (21), top-ranking single (“Rolling in the Deep”) and top-ranking music video. That November, at the American Music Awards, Adele became the first woman to win Favorite Adult Contemporary Artist, Favorite Pop/Rock Female Artist and Favorite Pop/Rock Album (21). She also became the first woman to win Artist of the Year, Billboard Album of the Year (21) and Billboard Song of the Year (“Rolling in the Deep”), in December.
Despite having throat surgery, Adele bounced back at the 2012 Grammys, equalling Beyoncé’s record of six wins from six nominations followed by two Brit Awards (Best British Female Solo Artist and British Album of the Year). With 21 selling 30 million copies universally by 2014, Adele became the only artist/band in 10 years to achieve an RIAA Diamond certification in the US.
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In March 2012, three of Adele’s singles entered the Billboard’s top 10, making her the first female singer to achieve the feat besides guiding two albums and two singles into the Billboard top five. That same month, 21‘s Australian conquest crossed 30 non-consecutive weeks, making it the 21st century’s longest-running number one Down Under. Enjoying 23 non-consecutive weeks at the top of the US charts by March 2012, 21 beat the record set by Whitney Houston’s The Bodyguard. Adele had made £23 million from May 2011 to May 2012. The achievements of 21 have seen Adele into the Guinness Book of World Records.
Adele’s composition “Skyfall” (October 2012) for the eponymous James Bond movie became the highest-charting Bond theme (at second spot) alongside “A View to a Kill” — until Spectre‘s “Writing’s on the Wall”. “Skyfall” became the first Bond theme song to win an Oscar (Best Original Song, 2012). It also won the Golden Globe (2012), Brit Award (2013) plus a 10th Grammy for Adele (2014). In 2013, Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain” won her a ninth Grammy (Best Pop Solo Performance).
Adele won two Ivor Novello Awards (Songwriter of the Year and Most Performed Work for “Rolling in the Deep”, May 2012) and a BMI Award (Song of the Year for “Rolling in the Deep”, October 2012). Along with Top Female Artist, Adele again won Billboard Artist of the Year with 21 becoming Album of the Year in December 2012.
By 2014, Adele’s wealth had risen to £50 million, helping her remain ‘Britain’s richest musician under 30’.
Her third album, 25, was released on November 20, 2015. Its lead single “Hello”, released on October 22, gained 27.7 million views in the first 24 hours, beating Taylor Swift’s 20.1 million for “Bad Blood”. “Hello” sprang to top spot on the British charts and Billboard, while selling a record 1.11 million downloads the first week.
Awarded the MBE (2013), Adele lives in a £7.3 million West Sussex estate with entrepreneur boyfriend Simon Konecki and their son Angelo.
