Adele Born: Voice That Redefined 21st-Century Pop
Adele was 19 when she recorded '19,' her debut album, in a flat in Brixton. She grew up in Tottenham, north London, raised by a single mother who worked as a furniture maker. She got her record deal through MySpace, posting demos that spread without promotion. At 21 she released '21,' which spent 24 weeks at number one in the UK and 24 weeks at number one in the United States — the longest run for a female artist in both charts simultaneously. She has won 15 Grammy Awards. She's also one of the few artists in the streaming era to outsell herself with each album release. She writes about specific people and specific relationships with such precision that every listener feels she's writing about them personally.
May 5, 1988
38 years ago
What Else Happened on May 5
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Rebel barons formally renounced their allegiance to King John, declaring open war against the English crown. This bold act of defiance forced the King to negoti…
Kublai Khan won the Mongol throne by defeating his younger brother Ariq Böke in a four-year civil war that killed tens of thousands of their own people. The emp…
Christopher Columbus sighted the Jamaican coastline during his second voyage, claiming the island for the Spanish crown upon landing at Discovery Bay. This arri…
Christopher Columbus waded ashore at Discovery Bay, claiming the island of Jamaica for the Spanish Crown during his second voyage. This arrival initiated over a…
The invasion fleet sailed past Okinawa's coral reefs with three thousand samurai who'd never fought a naval campaign before. Shimazu Tadatsune wanted China trad…
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