Adele covers the latest issue of Rolling Stone to promote her new album, 30. After not hearing from her for years, she’s really chatting up a storm these days – British Vogue, American Vogue, Oprah! The story of Adele’s divorce is pretty much the same in every interview and I do feel bad for her, even though she’s making it clear that she was the one doing the leaving, she was one who wasn’t fulfilled, she was the unhappy one. I think it actually takes some guts and maturity for her to own that and own her embarrassment for the divorce. She also chatted with RS about her famous friends and how her relationship with Rich Paul is different.
Her friendships with Nicole Richie and Jennifer Lawrence. “They humanized me because I had avoided talking to anyone that was ever famous in any capacity, because I was like, ‘Well, I’m not famous.’ I’m very British like that. We never spoke about work, which was amazing, because most of the time when I catch up with someone, they want to know all about my work, and I’m like, I don’t want to talk about that. Can we talk about something else? I’m knackered.”
Dating in LA: “I lasted five seconds [dating here]. You can’t set me up on a f—ing blind date! I’m like, ‘How’s that going to work?’ There’ll be paparazzi outside and someone will call [gossip site] DeuxMoi, or whatever it’s f—ing called! It ain’t happening.”
The delay with putting the album out: “If it wasn’t coming out now, I think I probably would never put it out. I know I would’ve changed my mind and been like, ‘It’s moved on. Let’s start the next album.’ And I couldn’t do that to this album. I feel like it deserves to come out.”
She talked to Drake about the album release too: “I had that conversation with Drake because he kept pushing his album back. He was like, ‘I feel like I’ve been working on it for so long because I’ve been sitting on it.’ I feel a bit like that.”
Whether she’ll tour: “It’s too unpredictable, with all the rules and stuff. I don’t want anyone coming to my show scared. And I don’t want to get Covid, either.”
Her relationship with Rich Paul: “I didn’t really tell many of my friends at the beginning because I wanted to keep it to myself… None of them believed it!” She now describes her relationship with Paul as “incredible, openhearted, and [the] easiest [one]” she has ever been in because of the self-growth and healing she’s done. “I always had this fear from a really young age that you’re going to leave me anyway, so I’m going to leave or I’m not going to invest myself in anything.”
Her divorce: “I didn’t really know myself. I thought I did. I don’t know if it was because of my Saturn return or if it was because I was well and truly sort of heading into my thirties, but I just didn’t like who I was.”
On her fans joking that her divorce would make a good album: “During something like that, that kind of significant thing to happen in life, your mind sort of goes to those places: ‘Why don’t they like me? Why would they write that if they’ve followed me for 10 years?’ But in reality, that’s not their responsibility. In reality, their responsibility as a fan is to want a good record and to hope I deliver. So I took it with a pinch of salt, and it was fine.”
Her fans’ “jokes” about her divorce making a good album were meant in a bittersweet, kind way. As in, “we know she’s going through it and we’ll love it when she tells us about it in the next album.” We didn’t mean anything bad by it! We were just finding the silver lining. How many years in therapy did it take to get to this: “I always had this fear from a really young age that you’re going to leave me anyway, so I’m going to leave or I’m not going to invest myself in anything.” I FEEL ATTACKED. Damn. As for her famous friends… what’s interesting about that is her girls really do keep her confidence. They’re not running around, telling people her business. She inspires loyalty.
Cover & IG courtesy of Rolling Stone.
I like Adele. I’ll buy the CD. But, it’s amazing to me how she’s being presented as the adult who handles divorce like a champ when she wrote a song calling her co-parent of her young child lazy among other things. It doesn’t quite align with the mature front?
90% of her album is about her being introspective and realizing the damaging and destructive patterns she brought into relationships and onto herself. And since nobody’s perfect, including her, it’s safe to assume that neither was her husband Simon. So why shouldn’t she, as an artist, cover the remaining 10% of the story, aka the fact that Simon wasn’t acting maturely all the time as well? After all, she stated that they’re still close friends who hang out even without their kid. And I bet Simon gave his amen to every word written about him on the album.
I absolutely adore Adele. But I’m not speaking to her right now… I wasn’t prepared to deal qith grown a** woman sh*t at 8am this morning when I started listening to 30.
It’s a masterpiece. Devastating, but an absolute masterpiece.
I have a general question. I don’t really remember her last album. But is this hype normal compared to her last albums. Yes, I get it. She is amazing and someone who doesn’t need to publish an album every year. This speaks volumes. But all this is hype, magazine covers, interviews with vogue and Oprah. She is everywhere and honestly, I am getting a bit tired. I am also getting tired of Taylor. I see them everywhere. When the fuck was the last time someone like Rihanna or Beyonce published something and did Rihanna also promote an album like this? Just an honest question. I don’t want to attack someone, just curious. I kind of have the feeling that the media is more focused on Adele now because of the change in her looks. Which is a shame because looks shouldn’t matter.
I think the promo would have been the same regardless of her weight loss. She’s a huge star, who produces consistently excellent stuff, we’ve missed her and there aren’t many huge musicians releasing anything (Bey, Rih, and Adele is absolutely of the same caliber, although Beyoncé is the Queen as Adele would agree). That said, I think *she* is ready to talk, and her weight loss is part of a big process of growth and healing for her. She always took gorgeous photos, then and now. Plus, none of the photos objectify her body (which would be fine with me if she wanted to do that), so I think neither she nor the outlets are centering that, although I bet she enjoyed wardrobe a LOT more this time (more stuff to wear, and probably more effort from stylists).
Yes, her last album was a big deal. I’m not sure if it was quite like this, but it was a very anticipated album and the Hello music video was a huge deal.
Her MO is to write an album, promote it, release it, go on tour, and then she goes quiet. 21 came out in 2011, then 25 in 2015, and now its been 6 years (which i’m sure adds to the anticipation.)
I also think she’s one of the artists where people are still excited for THE ALBUM. Like I don’t care what songs she releases as singles, i listen to her albums beginning to end multiple times before I even begin to think about my favorites.
the only other people I can think of where there is such anticipation around THE ALBUM is Taylor (but I feel that’s driven by her snake fam) and Beyonce.
I think it’s because she went away for so long. With other artists who hit it big, there’s a lot of pressure for the next album, and the next, and the next. She sells really well, and I’m sure there were executives hoping she’d crank out an album every single year and keep raking in the dough, but she went away for 6 years, at the top of her game.
Plus I think she’s probably the most broadly popular artist out there right now.
People have been begging Rihanna for a new album too for a few years too, I think if she decides to do another, it will have a ton of media coverage too.
Listening to the new album now…..I just love her voice. and yes, it does seem kind of messed up that so many people were like “ooh Adele is getting divorced? Her next album is going to be amazing!” But I also think that speaks a lot to what kind of songwriter Adele is….we know she channels her emotions into her songs in a beautiful and emotional way, so we expect that from her. But it does make me feel bad that she knew people were saying that.
Just listened to the album, lovely. Just lovely. She’s so talented, and her story feels real, not marketing.
I’m going through therapy, and just had a similar “I feel attacked” epiphany. This was four weeks ago. I feel so much lighter, and my mind is miles away from where it was. These underlying beliefs man, they’ll get ya every time until you uproot them. Good for Adele, good for me, good for all of us (including those not ready to do the uprooting, xx Kaiser)
I’ll listen to the album tomorrow night when I’m alone at home. It’s like saving a delicious treat for the weekend.