The success of
21 earned Adele numerous mentions in the
Guinness Book Of World Records. She is the first artist to sell more than 3 million copies of an album in a year in the UK.
[13] With her two albums and the first two singles from
21, "
Rolling in the Deep" and "
Someone Like You",
Adele became the first living artist to achieve the feat of two top
five hits in both the UK Official Singles Chart and the Official Albums
Chart simultaneously since the
Beatles in 1964.
[14][15] With her third release from the album, "
Set Fire to the Rain", becoming her third number one single in the US, Adele became the first artist in history to lead the
Billboard 200 concurrently with three
Billboard Hot 100 number ones.
[16] Adele is also the first female artist to have three singles in the top 10 of the
Billboard Hot 100 at the same time, and the first female artist to have two albums in the top five of the
Billboard 200 and two singles in the top five of the
Billboard Hot 100 simultaneously.
[17] 21 is the longest running number one album by a female solo artist on the UK Albums Chart
[18] and is the longest running number one album by a female in
Billboard history.
[19] In 2011,
Billboard named Adele artist of the year.
[20]
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins was born in
Tottenham,
north London, England, to a single teenage mother named Penny on 5 May
1988. Adele's father split from Adele's mother when Adele was 3 years
old, for which Adele had not forgiven him as of 2012.
[21][22][23] She began singing at age four and asserts that she became obsessed with voices.
[24][25] Adele has cited the
Spice Girls as a major influence in regard to her love and passion for music, stating that "they made me what I am today."
[26] Adele impersonated the Spice Girls at dinner parties as a young girl.
[27] To make her look like singer
Gabrielle, her mother made an eye patch with sequins, which Adele said was embarrassing.
[28] At the age of nine, Adele and her mother, a furniture-maker and adult learning activities organiser,
[29] relocated to
Brighton.
[30] At the age of 11, Adele and her mother moved to
Brixton,
[30] and then to neighbouring district
West Norwood, in South London.
[31] West Norwood is the subject for Adele's first record, "
Hometown Glory", written when she was 16.
[32] After moving to South London, she became interested in
R&B artists such as
Aaliyah,
Destiny's Child and
Mary J. Blige.
[33]
