Rolling in the Deep

"**Rolling in the Deep**" is a song by English singer-songwriter Adele. It is from her second studio album, _21_. The song was written by Adele and Paul Epworth. Adele has described it as a "dark blues-y gospel disco tune". The song's official MV uploaded to YouTube on 30 November 2010 has accumulated over 2.58 billion views and 13 million "Likes" as of 19 October 2024, similar to that of Adele's another hit _Someone Like You_ released 10 months later, which Adele considered as having changed her life.

## Overview

**Rolling in the Deep** was released as the lead single on 29 November 2010 in the Netherlands. "Rolling in the Deep'" became Adele's first number-one hit single in the United States and Canada. It was also her first top-five hit in several countries. Positive reviews for the song have been seen. It reached number one in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. It also reached top ten in Austria, Canada, Denmark, Ireland, New Zealand, and Norway. The song debuted at number two in the United Kingdom. There, it became Adele's third top-ten single.

### Performance

"Rolling in the Deep" became Adele's second single to chart in the United States. After that, it became her first single to go to top of a _Billboard_ chart. This was when it reached number one on the Hot Adult Top 40 Tracks chart in May 2011. It also became her first number one hit in the country when the song reached #1 in the _Billboard_ Hot 100 in May 2011. As of May 2011, "Rolling in the Deep" had sold over 2 million digital copies in the US. The song is her best-selling single in the country. It has sold more copies than her previous best-selling single "Chasing Pavements".

## Composition

The song has "martial arts", "pounding piano keys" (played by Neil Crowley) and "chanting backing singers". Critics have said Adele's vocals are like Jackson's "dirty-blues growl." AOL Radio Blog's Nadine Cheung says the song is "sung from the perspective of a scorned lover, who is finally able to see the light, but despite regretful sentiments, reconciliation is not an option here."

## Critical reception

The song was praised by critics for Adele's powerful voice, the lyrics and the song's instrumentation. _The Sun_ called the song an "epic, foot-stomper of a pop anthem." They said it had a thumping piano. According to _The Sun_, Adele's vocals seemed to be that of a veteran who has been singing for 20 years . Bill Lamb from About.com gave it 5 stars out of 5. He praised her voice and the emotion with which she sang the song. He said the song could "raise chills up the spine." He added that after hearing the song, people would want to hear the full album.

Jason Lipshutz from _Billboard_ praised the chorus of the song and its instrumentation. Lipshutz praised Adele's vocal performance. He said Adele was confident about her vocal ability. Lipshutz praised the way Adele started the chorus of the song.  _Rolling Stone_s Barry Walters gave "Rolling in the Deep" a positive review. He said Adele's voice was "powerful but not particularly pop" in the song. He said that the song started with "a stroked acoustic guitar." But he described its end as "stomping" and one that has hand-clapping. He said this showed that the English liked to modify Black American roots music.

## Music video

The music video for "Rolling in the Deep," directed by Sam Brown, filmed in July 2010. And premiered  on Channel 4 on 3 December 2010.  The video begins in an abandoned house, where Adele is sitting in a chair singing. During the video, the scenes show hundreds of glasses filled with water that vibrate to the beat of a drum. Jennifer White, who also choreographed the sequence, dances in a room kicking up white flour The drummer plays his drums under the stairs, and china is thrown breaking on a piece of suspended plywood at the bottom of a staircase. There is a white model of a city which is set on fire by five bursting light bulbs at the end of the song. The music video received critical acclaim, with critics praising its dark tone and simplicity.

## Track listing

- **Digital download**
1. "Rolling in the Deep" – 3:48

- **Digital EP**
1. "Rolling in the Deep" – 3:48
1. "Rolling in the Deep (Jamie xx Shuffle)" – 4:17
1. "Rolling in the Deep (Acapella)" – 3:56

- **CD single**
1. "Rolling in the Deep"
1. "If It Hadn't Been for Love" <small>(Michael Henderson, Christopher Stapleton)</small>

## Credits and personnel

Credits are taken from _21_ liner notes.
- Backing vocals, Lead vocals - Adele
- Songwriting – Adele, Paul Epworth
- Production, bass, acoustic guitar, electric guitar and backing vocals – Paul Epworth
- Mixing – Tom Elmhirst
- Mixing assistant – Dan Parry
- Recording – Mark Rankin
- Piano – Neil Cowley
- Drums – Leo Taylor
- Mastering – Tom Coyne

### Weekly charts

|scope="col"|Chart (2010–14)|scope="col"|Peak position|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|style="text-align:center;"|3|||
|style="text-align:center;"|1|||
|style="text-align:center;"|2|||
|style="text-align:center;"|4|||
|style="text-align:center;"|1|||
|style="text-align:center;"|1|||
|style="text-align:center;"|25|||
|style="text-align:center;"|2|||
|style="text-align:center;"|58|||
|align=center|2|||
|style="text-align:center;"|1|||

### Year-end charts

|scope="col"|Chart (2010)|scope="col"|Position|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|36||||
|Chart (2011)|Position|
| --- | --- |
|style="text-align:center;"|5|
|style="text-align:center;"|16|
|style="text-align:center;"|2|
|style="text-align:center;"|1|
|style="text-align:center;"|1|
|style="text-align:center;"|10|
|style="text-align:center;"|2|
|style="text-align:center;"|4|
|style="text-align:center;"|19|
|style="text-align:center;"|1|
|style="text-align:center;"|11|
|style="text-align:center;"|2|
|style="text-align:center;"|5|
|style="text-align:center;"|2|
|style="text-align:center;"|1|
|style="text-align:center;"|6|
|style="text-align:center;"|18|
|style="text-align:center;"|13|
|style="text-align:center;"|8|
|style="text-align:center;"|2|
|style="text-align:center;"|9|
|style="text-align:center;"|1|
|style="text-align:center;"|5|
|style="text-align:center;"|3|
|style="text-align:center;"|1|
|style="text-align:center;"|45|
|Chart (2012)|Position|
| --- | --- |
|style="text-align:center;"|51|
|style="text-align:center;"|32|
|style="text-align:center;"|61|
|style="text-align:center;"|41|
|style="text-align:center;"|6|
|style="text-align:center;"|189|
|style="text-align:center;"|25|
|style="text-align:center;"|34|
|style="text-align:center;"|71|
|style="text-align:center;"|22|
|Chart (2013)|Position|
| --- | --- |
|align=center|17|

### Decade-end charts

|scope="col"|Chart (2010–2019)|scope="col"|Position|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|12||||
|73||||
|10||||

### All-time charts

|scope="col"|Chart|scope="col"|Position|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|style="text-align:center;"|29|||
|style="text-align:center;"|35|||
|align="center"|129|||

## Release history

|Region|Date|Label|Format|||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Netherlands|29 November 2010|XL Recordings|rowspan=2|Digital download||
|United States|30 November 2010|Columbia Records||||
|rowspan=1|Germany|14 January 2011|rowspan=5|XL Recordings|CD single|
|Australia|rowspan=2|16 January 2011|rowspan=2|Digital EP||
|United Kingdom||||||
|United Kingdom|17 January 2011|CD single||||
|Europe|15 October 2010|CD single||||

## Covers

_Rolling in the Deep_ has been covered by various singers since its release. Some of them are independent bands, including the First To Eleven. First To Eleven's cover version of the song has accumulated 1,455,163 views as of April 8, 2025.

## Infobox (song)

- **name**: Rolling in the Deep
- **artist**: Adele (singer), Adele
- **album**: 21 (Adele album), 21
- **b-side**: "If It Hadn't Been for Love"
- **recorded**: 2009, Eastcote Studios, London
- **label**: XL Recordings
- **producer**: Paul Epworth
- **chronology**: Adele singles
- **prev title**: Make You Feel My Love#Adele version, Make You Feel My Love
- **prev year**: 2008
- **next title**: Someone Like You (Adele song), Someone Like You
- **next year**: 2011