My Love Letter to Adele

So after Adele won her six Grammys this Sunday, I deemed it proper to write my love letter to her. Just because I can.

I first heard of Adele a year and a half ago thanks to a Scottish friend who was obsessed with her. I just skimmed through the CD and was instantly captivated by “Someone Like You”. After that, I just kind of forgot about her until one day I was very bored and decided to listen to some of the music I was keeping in my “to listen” list.

I was hooked.

 

Adele has a quality in her music that most musicians lack these days: honesty. It is very true that we all love a spectacle—lights, awesome videos, stunts at concerts we attend—but I believe that the quality in the performers is reduced to the kind of show they put on. Artists seek to please more than to express their feelings. That is why Adele shocked the world, she has stripped herself of all this and only uses her voice and ability to perform.

Adele was born in 1988. Since an early age, she demonstrated that she was a talented singer and pursued it. She went to BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology in Croydon in 2006 and was classmates with Leona Lewis and Jeesie J. Shortly after she graduated, she was signed into her record label and produced her first CD “19”, for which she won two Grammys in 2009.

After the success of her first CD, Adele was looked upon the new face of music. Different, endearing and classy, but accessible. She won people’s hearts. And with “21”, she consolidated her place in the music industry, selling more that six million copies and winning six Grammy awards.

So eventually when it was announced that Adele needed surgery concerning a vocal hemorrhage, all her fans –including myself- flipped out. It was very scary to think that the career of such a promising artist could end as quickly as it had begun. So after four months of anxiety and speculation, she was able to perform again and to all of her fans tranquility, she hadn’t lost her touch.

So, why is Adele so popular? For one, she has a very original voice that is captivating from the first time you listen to it. It is very powerful and that makes it feel very deep and soulful. Her lyrics and music fit perfectly with the message she is trying to convey. It is easy to feel what she is singing about.

Besides her voice, she has made a very positive image for herself. Not only has she demonstrated that she has a lot of talent, but she is very approachable and she even stopped drinking to protect her voice.. She talks and acts like a normal person and lets say that is very refreshing in a world filled of performers that seek to put a “conceptual” show before everything else. She even stopped drinking to protect her voice.

She knew how to sell her music and she did it differently than everyone else. Lady Gaga uses a lot of bright colors and weird costumes? She uses mostly black and very simple dresses. Nicki Minaj puts on big elaborate shows? She just uses her band and chorus. Adele goes for simple, because her greatness comes from they way she feels her songs. And as ironic as it sounds, that is very refreshing. Less is more with her.

So the answer to her popularity is brought to us by the notion that she is different and unique. She is the opposite of everything we see today, she is a positive role model and has heaps of talent to back her up. So to people who have asked me if she deserves six Grammys and so much fame I say, without hesitation: yes, she does. 

Just a song for you to listen.