44 Fun Facts About Adele

In which part of London was Adele born?

Tottenham, in north London; her Welsh father left when she was small, and she was raised by her mother, a furniture maker.

What is Adele's surname?

Adkins, her mother's surname; her father's was Evans, and after years of estrangement they made peace before he died in 2021.

Which group did Adele say made her who she is?

The Spice Girls: as a girl she used to impersonate them, and the singer Gabrielle too.

Which two singers, like Adele, went to the BRIT School in Croydon?

Leona Lewis and Jessie J; as a teenager Adele found her voice singing along to Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald CDs.

How did XL Recordings first come across Adele's demo?

It was posted on Myspace: XL heard her class-project demo there, got in touch, and signed the teenager to a record deal.

Which Bob Dylan song did Adele cover on her debut album 19?

Make You Feel My Love: her manager played it to her when her own break-up songs couldn't say what she felt, and it became her favourite track on 19.

'Hometown Glory', the first song Adele ever wrote, is about which south London district?

West Norwood; she wrote the song in ten minutes after her mother tried to persuade her to leave London for university.

Adele's debut single, 'Hometown Glory', first came out as a limited edition on which format?

7-inch vinyl, on her friend Jamie T's Pacemaker Recordings label, even though Adele was already signed to XL.

How are Adele's studio albums named?

After her age when she made them: 19, 21, 25 and 30 reflect the age at which she wrote each album; 30 was actually released when she was 33.

'Chasing Pavements' was inspired by an argument in a club with whom?

An older ex-boyfriend: after a row, she stormed out of a London club and ran down the street, but he never chased after her.

Adele was the first ever winner of which Brit Award, in 2008?

Critics' Choice: at that ceremony she also sang in Mark Ronson's medley alongside Amy Winehouse.

An October 2008 appearance on which US TV show made Adele an overnight sensation in America?

Saturday Night Live: the real Sarah Palin was on the same episode, and by the next day 19 had leapt to number one on iTunes.

Which Grammy did Adele win in 2009, a year after her debut album 19?

Best New Artist; the win lifted 19 into the US top ten for the first time.

Which American musical styles did Adele start listening to on tour, shaping the sound of 21?

Country and Southern blues: her tour bus driver, a Nashville native, introduced her to artists like Wanda Jackson as she toured North America.

Adele's 21 spent 24 weeks at No. 1 in the US, the most since which 1980s soundtrack?

Purple Rain: Prince's soundtrack also spent 24 weeks on top, and its title song was recorded live at a 1983 benefit show in a Minneapolis club.

Which soul legend covered Adele's first US No. 1 single on a 2014 album of diva classics?

Aretha Franklin, who turned it into a medley with the Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell hit 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough'.

At the 2017 Grammys, Adele stopped and restarted her tribute to which late singer?

George Michael: she halted her slowed-down 'Fastlove' after a shaky start because, she said, 'I can't mess this up for him.'

Which ballad shot to No. 1 in the UK after Adele sang it at the 2011 Brit Awards?

Someone Like You: her label wanted it re-recorded with a full band, but Adele kept the bare voice-and-piano demo.

Which Columbia Records co-president produced several tracks on Adele's 21?

Rick Rubin cut most of the album with a hand-picked band in Malibu, but Adele scrapped most of those takes for earlier, rawer ones.

Why did Adele cancel her sold-out US tour in October 2011?

A vocal cord haemorrhage: doctors ordered extended rest, and a Boston surgeon later removed a benign polyp with laser microsurgery.

Accepting Album of the Year for 25 in 2017, Adele said which rival album deserved it instead?

Lemonade: as Adele praised it in her speech, a tearful Beyonce watched from the crowd.

Before agreeing to write the 'Skyfall' theme, what did Adele do first?

Read the film's script: she even told director Sam Mendes she might be wrong for it, because her songs are personal.

At the 2012 Brits, Adele's British Album speech was cut short for which band's performance?

Blur. Host James Corden interrupted her speech for 21 so Blur could close the 2012 show; Adele answered with a middle finger aimed, she said, at 'the suits', not the fans.

At which 2013 ceremony did Adele sing 'Skyfall' live for the first time?

The Oscars: preparing for them kept Adele from attending the Brits, so she accepted her 'Skyfall' award by video.

Fans joked about which outdated gadget in the video for Adele's 2015 comeback single?

A flip phone: director Xavier Dolan said modern phones or cars on screen remind viewers they're in reality.

Adele's 25 sold 3.38 million US copies in its first week, beating which act's 15-year-old record?

NSYNC, whose No Strings Attached sold 2.4 million in a week in 2000; expecting a rush, Columbia shipped 3.6 million CDs of 25.

Which Swedish hitmakers wrote and produced 'Send My Love (To Your New Lover)' with Adele?

Max Martin and Shellback: Adele tracked them down after hearing Taylor Swift's 'I Knew You Were Trouble' on the radio.

Whose rap verse did Adele perform in her January 2016 Carpool Karaoke?

Nicki Minaj: Adele rapped Minaj's verse from 'Monster', and Minaj praised her online afterwards.

Adele headlined Glastonbury 2016 on which of the festival's platforms?

The Pyramid Stage; she had announced the booking from the stage of her own O2 Arena show that March.

At which London venue did Adele cancel the last two shows of her 2017 world tour?

Wembley: she had called the first two nights there 'the biggest and best shows of my life'.

What personal upheaval inspired Adele's 30, her first album in six years after 25?

Her divorce from Simon Konecki: 'My Little Love' even weaves in voice memos of their son asking her questions.

What did Spotify remove for premium users at Adele's request when 30 was released?

The shuffle button on albums: 'Our art tells a story and our stories should be listened to as we intended,' Adele tweeted.

Adele's residency Weekends with Adele was held at which Las Vegas venue, long home to Celine Dion?

The Colosseum at Caesars Palace; the January 2022 start was postponed at the last minute over production delays and Covid in her team, and the residency finally opened that November.

Which 2021 TV special, with an Oprah Winfrey interview, won Adele a Primetime Emmy?

One Night Only's producers recruited a fan who wanted to propose, and Adele hushed the Griffith Observatory crowd as he proposed to his girlfriend.

What is the name of Adele's son, born in October 2012?

Angelo: in 2014 he won damages from a photo agency over paparazzi pictures, in a claim his parents brought for him.

Which song from 30 went straight in at No. 1 in the UK?

Easy on Me: in its video, again directed by Xavier Dolan, she moves out of the house from her 2015 comeback video.

Adele called 21 a break-up record; what did her 2015 open letter call 25?

A make-up record: 'Making up for lost time,' she wrote, 'making up for everything I ever did and never did.'

Which Amy Winehouse album does Adele credit with inspiring her to take up the guitar?

Frank: because of Winehouse, Adele says, she took up the guitar and also began writing her own songs.

Which song did Adele perform at the 2016 Grammys when a fallen microphone marred the sound?

'All I Ask': a microphone fell onto the piano strings during her February 2016 Grammys performance, throwing the sound off key; she consoled herself with an In-N-Out burger afterwards.

Adele officiated the 2018 wedding of which comedian, held in her Los Angeles garden?

Alan Carr: Adele got ordained just so she could marry him to Paul Drayton, his partner of about ten years.

What did Adele name the stage alter ego she invented to cope with performance anxiety?

Sasha Carter splices Beyoncé's Sasha Fierce persona with country singer June Carter; she conceived it after a panic attack before meeting Beyoncé, asking herself 'What would Sasha Fierce do?'

Where was Adele's 25 kept off when it came out in November 2015?

Streaming services: for seven months fans had to buy 25, until it reached Spotify in June 2016.

Adele says Ella Fitzgerald taught her acrobatics, Etta James passion, and who taught her control?

Roberta Flack; Adele had first bought Ella and Etta CDs, two for a fiver, purely because she liked their look.

To announce her 2017 London stadium shows, Adele sang 'Three Lions' and the theme to which BBC football show?

Match of the Day: she sang its theme in an Instagram video, and demand later stretched the run from two nights to four.