11.

21 TO LIFE

On the eve of the release of 21, Adele spent the evening out on the town with a small circle of friends. But at the end of the night, and mere minutes from the official 21 drop, Adele was home with her mother and, as she told Billboard, much more relaxed than she had been during the countdown to the release of the album 19.

“Everything is less frantic than it was the first time around,” she said. “I’ve learned to sit down and enjoy it all. I feel more free than I ever have.”

Adele was not alone in implying personal as well as professional growth. Those in her inner circle were most likely noticing the little things that showed she had matured. The sense of swagger and confidence that she now projected was miles removed from the tentative nature of the previous years. By degrees, she was more definitive in her decisions and had, through the largely collaborative nature of 21, learned some important creative lessons about working with others and still maintaining her integrity and creative vision. Adele was only twenty-one, but she was no longer a little girl.

Adele’s second album was completed in May 2010. Everybody on the business side of the singer’s career was thrilled with the results. But that did not mean there would not be changes.

Originally the album was going to take its title from the song “Rolling In The Deep.” But Adele decided that 21 would be a better title because, like its predecessor 19, that was the year this follow-up had been recorded, and the growth she had experienced as a performer truly represented her coming of age at twenty-one. But she would jokingly concede that the days of her album titles being her age were now in the past.

Then there was the matter of when to release the album. Initially a November 2010 release had been slated, all the better to capture the Christmas holiday buyers and to keep her release of new material within the two-year period most labels preferred. However, Columbia was so enthused with the album that they begged for and received some extra time to roll out a massive marketing campaign in the States that would target everybody who had bought her previous album, increase her all-important Internet presence, and hook her up with selected press for prerelease interviews.

Spoken in hushed tones was concern about whether Adele was still a relevant artist after a two-year interlude or if 19 had simply been a product of timing and luck. The consensus among those in the business side of things was that she most definitely was more than a one-hit wonder.

But there was also some concern that, perhaps, Adele had come too late to the party when it came to young female singer-songwriters. Despite her obvious credentials, Amy Winehouse’s nonmusic antics were tarnishing her obvious genius. Duffy and other members of the BRIT School generation were having moderate success but nothing that was truly consistent. And the reality was that while the more garish and theatrical rock and pop acts like Lady Gaga were critically dismissed at every opportunity, their records continued to go multiplatinum and gold. By comparison, Adele was the critics’ darling but even her most ardent supporters had to admit that with only one album to date and another on the horizon, there were still many questions that needed to be answered. 21 would be the record to either make or break Adele.

In December, Adele continued to show how country had become a part of her life when she recorded a live duet with country star Darius Rucker of Lady Antebellum’s “Need To Know” during Country Music Television’s Artists of the Year special. That song, along with live acoustic versions of “Someone Like You,” “Turning Tables,” and “Don’t You Remember,” would appear on a Target special edition two-CD disc of 21.

Adele’s willingness to branch out into different musical genres and to take chances was noted. The Village Voice, in a preview/review/analysis of the prospects for Adele’s 21, made a point of saying that Adele had gotten to the stage where her music was something that both Patti Smith and Linkin Park could relate to. The piece also indicated that it went without saying that Adele was making friends with her conversion to country and bluegrass.

But behind all the happy talk and positive vibes, there was still some concern about how well 21 would ultimately fare. If the album did what 19 had accomplished, the bean counters would be thrilled. But “if” is a mighty imposing word, and nobody had their fingers crossed tighter than Adele.

“I don’t think this record will do anything,” she confessed to Entertainment Weekly. “I can’t feel the buzz in America.”

Columbia Records CEO Rob Stringer was cautiously optimistic in EW: “When everybody heard the record they knew it was special. But not one person could honestly tell you they thought it would sell that many (albums).”

To that end, Adele was once again on the prerelease promotion trail in America. And a good part of that promotion was centered in the seemingly unlikely halls of Target and Best Buy. To many, making nice to the bastions of middle-class consumerism seemed very unhip and even hinted at sellout. Adele was quick to defend her courting of retail America in a conversation with the Illinois Entertainer.

“Target did quite well by me on the first record so of course I was going to see them,” she said. “And I saw both of them (Target and Best Buy) at separate meetings, which meant flying around in this real tiny plane. And I’m not real big on flying.”

Adele explained to IE with no small amount of sincerity that doing a concert for the Target bigwigs was a gas. “The first time I went on the first record in front of Target, there were maybe four people. This time I was in a five-hundred-capacity room and a thousand people turned up. They were all cheering and whooping. It was crazy.”

Best Buy would go equally well, and the consensus from the stores that were known to satisfy the steady diet of Midwest music buyers was that the sooner Columbia could get 21 into their hands the better.

After some discussion, it was agreed that 21 would make its debut in January 2011.

But it was also important to the ultimate success of 21 that at least one single make an appearance before year’s end and so, in November 2010, “Rolling In The Deep” made its debut at No. 2 on the UK singles charts, right behind Bruno Mars’ song “Grenade.” Adele’s song would remain at No. 2 for four weeks and in the Top 10 for ten weeks.

“Rolling In The Deep” seemed the perfect first single to hit the airwaves. It was powerful in that low-down confessional way that had quickly become Adele’s trademark. The instrumental backing was blues and soul done up in a raw pop fashion. The song showed how Adele had grown, and gave a hint of what fans could look forward to. Adele agreed with the choice of “Rolling In The Deep” as the ideal first single out of the chute. She sensed that the song would be something special.

In December 2010, the song made its debut on the US Billboard charts at a surprising No. 68. But like its predecessors, “Rolling In The Deep” would eventually make it to No. 1. Many saw the success of “Rolling In The Deep” as the benchmark, the missing piece to the puzzle that would make Adele a major star in America. Now it was simply a matter of getting the singer back on the road and in front of the masses.

And to, hopefully, avoid the pitfalls that plagued portions of the Evening with Adele tour. Adele did not appear to have any emotional entanglements that could disrupt a tour this time around. She was healthy. To a large extent she had gotten her homesickness and stage fright under control. Even her long-standing fear of flying had improved. Adele was pronounced fit to travel.

A tour in support of 21 was in its preliminary stage. Ever the perfectionist, Adele reasoned that adding a second guitarist to her backing band would give her live sound more depth as she gradually moved up to larger-scale clubs and concert halls. She immediately thought of Van Der Kuil from the Daniel Merriweather days and advised her management to track him down and add him to the band.

In turn, Van Der Kuil was able to point Adele in the direction of a quite-capable bassist in Australian Sam Dixon. Dixon, who also included songwriting and production credits on his résumé, had been around a while, seen it all, and was not easily impressed. But the musician was exactly that, as he explained in a conversation with CanCulture.

“She is incredibly heartfelt and honest at all times,” he said. “She is not a diva.”

Backup singer Kelli-Leigh Henry-Davila joined the Adele touring band around the time of 21’s release and, like Dixon, found her new employer extremely down-to-earth. “She was always, ‘Can I make you some tea?’” she explained to a BBC News reporter. “There was no diva in her.”

By the time 21 made its initial chart appearances, Adele had already spent some time on the international promotion trail. Always a trooper when it came to promoting her music, she never tired of talking up 21, and early reviews indicated that there was much to talk about. Her personal life as it pertained to the nature of the songs once again were open to discussion, but press interest also centered on the maturity of the sound compared to 19 and, in particular, the infusion of country and roots music into her already-established soul and blues elements.

When she was not doing interviews, Adele was more than happy to perform. Adele made musical appearances on December 9, 2010, at the Royal Variety Performance; on the finale of Holland’s singing competition show, The Voice of Holland, on January 21, 2011; and on BBC 1’s Live Lounge on January 27. The week 21 was released in the UK, Adele performed a short acoustic set of 21 songs at London’s Tabernacle music hall that was simultaneously broadcast live on her official Web site.

It was during the Paris phase of the promotional tour that a singer’s worst nightmare hit Adele. While performing as part of a Paris radio station promo segment, Adele’s voice suddenly went from her trademark contralto to a rough, raw, barely audible rasp and finally to a whisper. Adele had dealt with sore throats and colds over the years, but as she recalled in an interview with Vogue, this was something different.

“That day it (my voice) just went. It was literally like someone had pulled a curtain over it.”

Dixon told The West Australian that he was not surprised that her voice gave out. “She never doesn’t give 100 percent. Even at a six a.m. radio promo she’s still at the top of her game. That’s the reason why I think she’s ended up crook (with voice problems). Even at a sound check she’ll be singing at her absolute maximum.”

It did not help matters that compressed schedules would often have her doing a late-night promo appearance, get very little sleep, and then get up early the next morning for another promo and another song. Whether anybody cared to admit it, Adele was willingly burning the candle at both ends and her body was beginning to bog down.

Adele flew back to London the next day and consulted with her doctor, who diagnosed the singer with acute laryngitis. After a couple of weeks’ rest, her voice returned and Adele returned to the promo trail without missing a beat.

But it was an early sign that Adele and those around her would have to begin paying closer attention to her health, which would mean a modification of her singing duties. She would no longer sing for radio promotion appearances and, while they knew it was an impossible task, Adele’s people would insist that she only sing at half strength during sound checks to rest her voice for shows.

While Adele grudgingly went along with the suggestions, her youthful enthusiasm and sense of invincibility would often prevail over prudence. Adele most likely felt she knew her body better than anyone else. And that her body told her she was fine.

During this period, Adele was also not neglecting the States, recalling how much more difficult it had been to break 19. And she would be a good sport about even the most questionable promotional events. In October, Adele performed a short set and did a meet and greet with two hundred executives from the Target retail chain, which would pay it forward with a massive push behind a live version of 21 that would be released in 2011. That same month, she flew to Los Angeles where she did a set for some local and national tastemakers at the Largo.

In advance of the release of 21 in the States, Adele also did a February 2011 blitz of the daytime and nighttime talk show circuit, appearing on The Jay Leno Show, The David Letterman Show, Today, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and Jimmy Kimmel Live! During the month of February, Adele also made her motion picture sound track debut when it was announced that “Rolling In The Deep” would appear on the sound track for the science fiction action movie I Am Number Four.

While back in London, Adele appeared at the 2011 BRIT Awards. It was a different time for her. She was home and now a full-fledged star, a mere two years removed from obscurity. It would be a very emotion-filled night that would include her live performance of the song “Someone Like You.” Adele was probably more than a bit nervous this night as the inspiration for the song, the loss of an ex-lover, was suddenly once again fresh in her mind.

Adele would later admit that while singing the song that night, she could envision her former lover and imagine his gloating over the power he still had over her. Which is why, as she neared the end of her performance, tears welled up in her eyes and she broke down.

Adele would later explain the public breakdown in an interview with ITV2. “I was really emotional by the end because I’m quite overwhelmed by everything anyway. And then I had a vision of my ex, of him watching me at home, and he’s going to be laughing at me because he knows I’m crying because of him, with him thinking, ‘Yes, she’s still wrapped around my finger.’”

Band member Dixon had experienced these emotional moments several times during his tenure with the band and acknowledged to CanCulture that “There are some nights where she can really be affected by what she’s singing and we as a band have to be aware of that.”

Adele had developed a particularly good taste for the States on her 19 tour, and that continued the second time around. When she was not making small talk and often-mindless banter with her TV hosts, she managed a bit of the nightlife, especially in New York and Los Angeles, and speculated on how she might move to New York at some point in the future.

But the immediate concern was how successful 21 would be. And amid a rush of positive reviews, Adele’s sophomore effort was a smash right out of the box.

In the UK, 21 was smashing long-held sales records seemingly every day. 21 debuted at No. 1 on the UK album charts on January 30, 2011, and, in the process, dragged her previous album, 19, back to the top of the charts at No. 4. When the single “Someone Like You” jumped an amazing forty-six spots from No. 47 to No. 1, and the follow-up, “Rolling In The Deep,” followed to No. 4, Adele became the first performer since The Beatles in 1964, to have two albums and two singles in the Top 5 simultaneously, a feat that would land Adele in The Guinness Book Of World Records by year’s end. Shortly thereafter when 19, after 102 weeks on the album charts, rose to No. 2, Adele added another world record, becoming the first artist since The Corrs in 1999 to hold the top two album slots.

As with the previous album, critics were lining up to sing Adele’s praises.

The Village Voice said, “The album has a diva’s stride and a diva’s purpose. With a touch of sass and lots of grandeur, it is often a magical thing.”

The Chicago Tribune stated that the album “Beefs up the rhythmic drive and the drama of the arrangements.”

Music OMH remarked, “21 is one of the great breakup records and the first truly impressive record of 2011.”

The longevity of 21 would be reflected in three separate stints as the No. 1 album, for a total of eighteen weeks between February and July 2011. As almost an afterthought, the album would top the charts in a total of twenty-six countries by year’s end.

No less amazing was the success of 21 in America. The album debuted on February 22, 2011, at the top of the Billboard charts. The album would remain in the Top 3 for twenty-three consecutive weeks and in the Top 5 for thirty-nine consecutive weeks.

Flushed with the success of the album, and while at least a year away from considering a third album, Adele told Q magazine that she was already looking to the future.

She joked that the next album would probably be called 23, 26, or 27. But she was quite serious that the follow-up would be done her way.

“It won’t be a big production. I want it to be quite acoustic and piano led. I want to write it, record it, produce it, and master it on my own. When I move into my new house, which will probably be this summer (2011), my sound engineer is going to come over and help me install a studio and teach me how to use it.”

But Adele would have to push those plans back as the inevitable world tour in support of 21 was quickly rounding into shape. With the rocky way in which the 19 tour played out still fresh in her head, Adele felt that this time everything had to be flawless. She was looking forward to the tour and, as she told Billboard, she was prepared for the emotional stresses that would be there with her on stage every night.

“Towards the end of touring on 19, there were a couple of shows where I’d be singing ‘Make You Feel My Love’ and I would just have to start thinking of Ikea or something.

“You just have to switch off sometimes.”