When Adele dropped her third album last year, it became a massive success almost instantly. She’s one of the few musical acts these days still making tons of money from good old-fashioned album sales and downloads. My point? She doesn’t NEED to tour. But she still is. Her tour has already started, and she’ll be going until November, with some big stops along the way (like, she’s headlining Glastonbury this year). As always, everything’s coming up Adele. But according to sources, she’s already plotting her retreat once this tour is over.
She kicked off her world tour last month, performing a staggering 105 shows across Europe and North America. And Adele is allegedly already planning her next break, intending to take a five-year hiatus from the music industry in order to focus on her three-year-old son with boyfriend Simon Konecki.
A source told The Sun: ‘She has told her closest pals she will step away from the limelight for five years before she next brings out an album. She’s still very new to motherhood and doesn’t want to miss out on Angelo growing up. It will be a hard thing for fans to hear.’
The tour is expected to conclude in November, at which Adele plans to focus on her family instead of her career.
My first thought was… she probably wants to have another baby. Like, she’ll get pregnant again at the end of the tour or soon after, and she’ll want to take another break. But I think the “five years” figure is probably just idle speculation, because who even knows how she’ll feel after a break of a year or two? Not even Adele knows how she’ll feel, so don’t panic yet. And my point about how her records sell – it’s worth considering, for someone like Adele, possibly dropping a record and not going on tour, you know? That way she wouldn’t have to leave her son and any future children. She could just stay in London and record her albums and not tour.
Meanwhile, Adele had some harsh words for mom-shaming breastfeeding advocates in general and possibly Jamie Oliver in particular. Oliver has launched a campaign to get more British women to breastfeed and to make it easier for women to breastfeed publicly, which would have been fine if he had just stopped there. But Oliver took mansplaining to extremes and made it sound like moms who give formula to their babies are injecting them with diabetes and that any mom who doesn’t breastfeed is a terrible person. During a Q&A part of her performance in London last week, Adele was asked something about “breastfeeding mummies” and Adele went off, saying:
“You know what, the pressure on us is f**king ridiculous. No worse [then the] people who put pressure on. You can go f**k yourselves, alright? Because it’s hard. Some of us can’t do it! Some of my mates got post-natal depression from the way those midwives were talking. Idiots.”
Adele went on to reveal she struggled to feed Angelo naturally after he was nine months old and claimed bottled brands do just the trick.
“Breastfeed if you can but don’t worry, [formula milk] Aptamil’s just as good. I mean, I loved it, all I wanted to do was breastfeed and then I couldn’t and then I felt like, ‘if I was in the jungle now back in the day, my kid would be dead because my milk’s gone’… It’s not funny, that’s how some of us think.”
Word. As if we couldn’t love her more, right? I sort of wish Adele was a mommy-blogger because I feel like she would be dropping mommy truth-bombs all over the place. Maybe she can start mommy-blogging during her five-year hiatus!
Photos courtesy of WENN.
Lucky woman – has the talent to give release an album every 5 years, earn millions and then retire for a few years again.
If I’m honest I love this.
When you feel you had just enough, Adele goes away and make the fans miss her and long for more.
Her songs are everywhere right now and overexposure will somehow work against her so God bless, go away, live your life like a real person and come back to tell more stories that the world will be dying to hear.
Every celebrity should do the same.
There are several who truly need to step away, but their thirst is just too strong.
She seems to have a good balance and boundaries for her work and personal life.
Not every celebrity can do it though – it’s easier for musicians since most of their success depends on the loyalty of fans, but when actors (especially female) try to do it, sometimes there’s nothing to come back to. When Hilary Swank took (a much shorter) break after winning 2 Oscars back to back, her career took a huge dive and now only terrible scripts are coming her way. Same with many others.
But Adele is lucky enough to know that millions of fans will wait, so there’s no reason not to. I’d love to have such an opportunity.
Good. Adele wouldn’t be Adele if she churned out the same type of albums every 2 years. She can build anticipation because she is missed and she isn’t a tabloid fixture. Those two factors make people forget she isn’t inventing the wheel with her music but her fans are under the pretense she is unique and special. It’s brilliant.
I agree. She is very successful because she has a formula that works. Everybody got mad at Damon Albarn for saying that her new music is very “middle of the road”, but I listened to her album and he’s right. There are many soul singers who are way more innovative and original of her, but she knows how to create anticipation. Kudos to her, I guess.
What a great work-life balance.
i miss her signature bouffant.
but this one is more manageable i guess, what with having a child an all, you can’t spend too long on the hair/makeup chair.
i go on youtube semi-periodically now she’s on tour just to listen/watch her onstage banters.
like this one, where she spotted someone down on one knee getting proposed at
https://m.youtube.com/watch?list=PLFNYhc2hUHfPqwTySppEo0DhPxS3uVSSV¶ms=OAFIAVgE&v=_kRoXqlnenw&mode=NORMAL
i know she’s not as funny as Eddie Izzard (who is?) but i guess she can be a semi-successful stand up comedian if she gets tired of singing. i’m sure her charisma more than makes up for it.
I am sure she could just drop albums without tours or anything like that or she could just retire for life. That is her business. But why are the tours so difficult? Yes, they are work but she has no choreography. She may not have to do tours but if you think about it, they are important because fans get to hear her live, the fans that bought her stuff and gave her this amazing opportunity in life.
In terms of wanting to work and being passionate, she doesn’t appear to be passionate about music much. Why do Madonna and Beyonce go on? Do they neglect their kids?Adele is not the only star that takes breaks, the difference is why they take them. Some do it to work on something new, some do it to redefine themselves as a whole and some (like Adele) do it because they love the confort as oppose to the agitation of work life.
Do mothers that have everyday jobs neglect their kids? She doesn’t want to work anymore, just say that. This taking care of your kid is ridiculous. Just like in Kate and William’s case.
Not expecting much from her next album, whenever she decides to drop it. (although I am sure it will be a mega – hit). This current album was pretty off, the songs were good just barely and the logic behind it was absurd. Her explanations about turning 25 as if 25 is 100 don’t hold up in real life. ’21’ felt authentic.
I don’t support the idea of her becoming a limelight addict but I won’t believe she likes to make music much anymore either and music being her work, I don’t believe she likes to work. So, yeah, she should go away.
I think she has really bad performance anxiety, so tours might be emotionally exhausting for her.
Going on a huge world tour and working a 9-5 job are not really comparable. A regular mother working in a stable workplace goes to work and comes back to her child every day and has regular days off. Tours are difficult for parents because they are basically gone from home for a year or so – it’s more comparable to sailors or soldiers than blue collar workers. When the children are small, they can take them with, but it’s extremely exhausting for a toddler to travel from town to town, from country to country day after day, sleep on tour buses and in hotels etc (jet lag is difficult for adults, imagine a 2-year old). Then when the kids grow up, they have school, friends, some extra activities and it’s even more difficult to uproot them like that.
Most adult children of musicians I’ve read about call their childhoods difficult – those who traveled with their parents for the lack of stability, those who stayed behind with the other parent/grandparents/nannies – for not seeing their moms and dads. It’s not easy. Duncan Jones (David Bowie’s son) used to do both – first he traveled with his father but he hated it and didn’t want to do it anymore, so he stayed behind with the nanny. Bowie openly said he regretted being an absent father for most of his childhood and he worked much less since his daughter’s birth (before the the health issues came).
If she wants to take time off, for whatever the reason, I think she should go for it. A tour like that has to be draining, and she values having some balance in her life.
I love that she has this massive success but makes no attempt to capitalize on it beyond her music – it shows that she truly doesn’t care about the fame and fortune side. So many others in her position would be doing product deals, all over social media, trying to be an actor, etc. She’s content to step away for a while when her tour is done.
She didn’t say people who work neglect their kids. She wouldn’t say that. Motherhood is different for everyone! She has the ability to randomly work, make millions, then disappear and not work as long as she wishes. By saying she’s taking five years off doesn’t mean she’s not working. She works inside the home, as a MOTHER!!! This shit is hard. I would know, I have a 6 month old. It offends me when people think being a stay at home mom means I’m ‘choosing to not work’. All I do is work 24/7 for no pay. Because it’s called being a mom! Beyoncé does take lots of time off. She just doesn’t announce it. Madonna is thirsty as hell, lol. She will never go away.
She works inside the home, as a MOTHER
Her kid is old enough to go to school right? As he’s on tour with her, I assume he gets some kind of ‘tutoring’ fit for his age. He’s not a baby that needs care 24/7 so not a lot of mothering needs to be done during the day, more like housework which sorry I just don’t see her doing obsessively every day. She’ll work on writing I think… what else is there to do when you’re filthy rich and housework cannot fill your whole day?
I’ve recently seen a documentary about loneliness in the UK and many mothers feel isolated because housework didn’t complete them once the kids were out of their diapers and becoming more independent. One mum started a walking group just so she could connect to other mums in her community (who welcomed the escape of the routine of housework). Another mother said she loved shopping as it was her ONLY way of speaking to an adult. It was…sad but very human. Work is work and can become boring really quickly whether it is out of the house or in the house.
Other performers take their children to the studio when they’re babies or work around their school schedules just like normal people would do. I don’t judge either way of living life and I don’t believe that Adele’s method is superior in order to have a more well-balanced, happy life.
It seems like most celebs either do the whole staying at home thing or work incessantly but nobody ever came out and said ‘you know what, I wanted to see the world and experience different cultures’. It is baffling with the amount of money they have they never really seem to explore worlds beyond their own (public celebrity life and private homelife). Beyoncé took a year out and travelled but used it in her art without actually saying something meaningful about it. And Adele despite her ‘normalness’ still seems very insular.
I guess Angelina Jolie is a good example of somebody who is eager to explore many facets in life and isn’t bound to life’s conventions of the home and the work life.
She said in an Ellen interview is is obsessed with cleaning and housework. She loves it. Also, do you have children? 3 years old is a very difficult age of 24/7 supervision. Lol. Not being snarky, I swear! Babies are easier than toddlers, anyday! Also, being a mom is always 24/7. You are always worrying, caring for them, preparing a thousand things.
She’s not supervising him 24/7 now. She goes to the gym now, she’s on tour, she’s having vocal training. Plus he’ll be going to school in those 5 years, unless she’ll hometutor him, I don’t know.
It’s fun (and draining) when you’ve got company at home but when you’re home alone (her husband works) I doubt she’s doing housework all day, there’s too little to do for one and two it’s hella lonely. She’s an artist. She’ll create, have fun with friends and enjoy a conventional lifestyle.
It kind of made me giggle when you said there’s not enough house work. There is ALWAYS crap to do when you have little ones. Even with a house keeper! LOL Being a mom doesn’t stop when you are at the gym or when they are at school. I’m confused on your argument? I’m simply saying toddlers are not easy, far from it. And being a mom working in the house is damn hard, even with loads of help.
Best wishes to her! She’s a gem.
LOVE her comments about breastfeeding and the pressure on moms generally speaking. I think the push to make it more acceptable to breastfeed in public is a good one…. but more and more frequently I have seen the flip side of that campaign. I personally don’t like breastfeeding in public, even if I am fully covered I just don’t feel comfortable. Am I going to let my kid go hungry? Of course not. But, generally I try to avoid feeding in public, and anytime I “disappear” to feed I get comments about how I’m “part of the problem for letting a male dominated culture shame me.” It’s extremely annoying. Support women’s choices, damnit!
very well put! I’m glad theres a move forward for those who feel comfortable doing it and there should be, i just don’t feel comfortable getting my waps out in public.
Girl, you do you. If you feel more comfortable doing so in private, rock on.
I reserve my righteous indignation for the perverted busybodies who feel the need to take time out of their day to harass or scold breastfeeding women. You don’t want to see a breast? Then look away. Go take your impotent rage to your town hall or local congressperson. Leave the mothers alone.
yes, i believe’ you do you’ was the sentiment of my post and the post above. and totally agree with leaving mothers alone to get on with things- it’s their own business.
Can’t stand Jamie Oliver. Ate at his place in picadilly (or Trafalgar, it’s been a few years) and it was so not good. He preaches too much
Love her, and she clearly knows the best way to manage her career.
Honest god people need to stop judging other people’s parenting and life choices! I mean if you aren’t abusing or neglecting the child who cares if you work, stay home, breast or formula feed its personal!
She’s dead right as usual and personally, I’d like to take a baseball bat to Jamie Oliver’s head.
She’s like Sade in that way, isn’t she? The selfish part of me, however, is like HELL NAW.
Adele is a gem and refreshing. That is all
She is one of the few celebs I would love to hang out with. She seems to have stayed very real. I love that.
I realize her music is not exactly groundbreaking or game changing, but I am huge Adele fan because she consistently turns out solidly good songs with a lovely voice and relatable lyrics. She puts in the work then goes away, and only comes back when she has something worth selling. Pragmatic and talented. Luv huh.
Mommy moralizing makes me so glad I don’t want to have kids.
I’m not sure there’s a mountain of evidence supporting claims that breastmilk is far superior to synthesized formulas. It’s a woman’s choice anyway. As long as baby is thriving, it’s no business of anyone’s what a mother (or father) feeds.
My FIL mentioned he would be severely disappointed if I did not breastfeed for 12 months. I advised him to prepare for disappointment, then.
I really believe her. She’s mainstream, but not manufactured. I didn’t like 25 that much, but she’s still great.
Adele strikes me as not being a people person at all. She seems to tolerate being around others, but I mostly get the feeling that she wants to be left alone. She should take a cue from Sade who is more talented, has managed to stay out of the spotlight, and is still very successful. And tone down the yelling in her songs too.