Adele Laurie Blue Adkins, MBE (born 5 May 1988), better known simply as Adele, is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and multi-instrumentalist.

Adele graduated from The BRIT School in Croydon in May 2006. In July 2006, Adele published two songs on the fourth issue of online arts magazine PlatformsMagazine.com.[4] After graduation, Adele began to play small shows at places all over Britain. She has also toured with best friend Jack Peñate, as well as Jamie T, Raul Midon, Devendra Banhart, Amos Lee and Keren Ann since summer 2006. Adele went on her first UK headlining tour in October 2007.

Adele's first single released was "Hometown Glory". On it, she sings about Tottenham. The album was released on 22 October 2007 on Jamie T's label Pacemaker Recordings. It is a limited edition 7" vinyl with B-side "Best for Last".  She has since signed to independent music label XL Recordings. In January 2008, she released her second single "Chasing Pavements".

Adele has become quite popular on MySpace. She is following the example of fellow Londoner Lily Allen by using the web as a mediafocus and a place to see what people think of her songs. Adele performed Daydreamer on BBC2's Later With Jools Holland, alongside Paul McCartney and Björk. She was next on BBC1's Friday Night with Jonathan Ross on 7 December 2007, singing Chasing Pavements.

On 10 December 2007, Adele was awarded with the first BRIT Awards Critics’ Choice prize.[5][6] She has been called the "new Amy Winehouse." In January 2008, she was voted winner in the annual BBC 6 Music poll of industry experts Sound of 2008, for acts to emerge in the coming year.[7]

In 2011 Adele released her second album, 21, named after her age at the time it was made. It was number one in more than 26 countries. It became the biggest selling album of the 21st century.

Her third studio album, 25, was released on 20 November 2015 and debuted at number one all around the world.  The music video for the lead single "Hello", which also debuted at number one in many countries, broke the record for the shortest amount of time for a YouTube video to reach one billion views.  The song was also certified 4× Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America faster than any other song in history.  To date, it has been certified 7× Platinum by the RIAA.

In October 2012, Adele gave birth to her son, Angelo, with her then-boyfriend, Simon Konecki.[8]  In 2013 she won an Academy Award and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and the Brit Award for Best British Single for the title track for the James Bond movie Skyfall. The song also won the award for Best Song for Visual Media at the Grammy Awards.[9]

On December 19, 2013, Adele was given an MBE by the Prince of Wales.[10]

In 2017, Adele confirmed that she is married to Konecki.  In April 2019, it was reported that the two ended their marriage.[11]

The Grammy Awards are awarded each year by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States for outstanding achievements in the music industry. Some think they are the highest music honor.[13]

As of February 13, 2017, Adele has received 15 Grammy Awards from 18 nominations. In 2012, Adele became the second female artist to win six awards in one night, after Beyoncé Knowles did in 2010. Adele is only the second artist (following Christopher Cross) to have won all four of the General Field ("Big Four") awards at the Grammys.