Adele has been out of the limelight for almost five years now; her last album, 25, was released back in November of 2015. So what’s up, did she retire?
Adele has not yet retired. She has taken a few breaks from the music industry though. The first time was in 2012 when she was pregnant and then gave birth to her son, Angelo. However, this was short-lived. Then in 2016, after the release of 25, it was reported she was taking another break.
You can read more about Adele’s hiatuses from her music career, as well as her much anticipated new album below.
Adele Gives Birth and Takes a Break
Adele gave birth to her son Angelo in October of 2012, it was only a year and a half after the release of her second album, 21. The album was a smash hit and with how quickly it had followed her debut, 19, it seemed likely another would be on the way soon. Adele didn’t plan on it though.
In early 2012 and right before the Grammys, the Telegraph reported that Adele was planning to take a four to five year break from music to enjoy her love life. She did take a bit of a break, but not for as long as she said she would be. During her short career hiatus, she did give birth to her son.
Nevertheless, by February of 2013, almost one year after announcing her break, she was already telling Billboard that she was working on a new album. The new album proved to be a harder task than every other album she had worked on to date.
Writer’s Block on 25
Something that the Queen of breakup songs had never experienced before was writer’s block. In the initial stages of trying to compose the album, she had focused on writing songs about being a mother. However, she scrapped the whole album feeling that the songs were too boring and lacking her usual edge. Adele soon felt discouraged and as if the album she wanted to write was never going to happen.
In a 2015 interview with Nick Grimshaw on BBC Radio 1, Adele tells him “It was a long process. I wanted to give up a lot because I couldn’t do it. I thought I’d run out of ideas and I’d lost my ability to write a song.”
The album happened when Adele started working with music producer and songwriter Greg Kurstin; he helped her to find her voice once again. The two took a long time to write the hit song Hello, but after that, Adele began to feel her creativity flow back into her. She worked with multiple artists, like Bruno Mars, Sia, and One Republic’s Ryan Tedder to create her album.
In November of 2015, the album 25 was released and it was a smash hit. You can listen to Nick Grimshaw’s 2015 interview with Adele on BBC Radio 1 by following the below YouTube link.
Announcement of Another Career Hiatus
In July 2016, at her concert in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Adele announced that she would be taking another break from her career to focus on raising her almost four year old son, Angelo. She told her fans that “My kid is starting school, you see – hence why I’m so busy trying to get all my shows out of the way. I don’t think I’ll be away for as long.”
Adele continued to tour, but her final two shows were canceled in July 2017 due to damaged vocal cords. It seemed like Adele was out for good. But then, in June of 2018, it was reported by The Telegraph that she was working on a new album once again. The new album has now been confirmed as finished and set to release in September 2020.
Although Adele has taken more than just one break from her music career, it doesn’t seem like anything can extinguish her need to create. Not even damaging her vocal cords. Adele is probably a long way from ever retiring.