Adele: The Biography

by Marc Shapiro

Over the past year, Adele has taken the country by storm, sweeping the 2012 Grammy Awards and taking home six titles, including one for Album of the Year. The British singer-songwriter has been smashing records ever since her 2008 appearance on Saturday Night Live and her 2009 Grammy for Best New Artist. The success of her second album, 21, made her the first living artist since the Beatles to have two top-five hits in both the UK singles and albums charts. The album hit the #1 spot in 18 different countries. In the U.S., 21 is the longest running number one album by a female in Billboard history, surpassing Whitney Houston's The Bodyguard. To put it simply, her worldwide success is unmatched.

This one-of-a-kind book will provide answers to fans' burning questions, including:
—What was Adele's childhood like as the daughter of a single, teenage mother?
—Growing up, who were her biggest inspirations and influences in the music industry?
—As someone whose career depends on her voice, what was it like being diagnosed with a vocal cord hemorrhage?
—How did canceling her Adele Live tour affect her career?
—How did she make the decision to perform at the Grammys, while still recovering from vocal surgery?
—And much more!

A must-read for every Adele fan.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Music

224 pages, Hardcover

First published July 12, 2012

About the author

Marc Shapiro is the author of the New York Times bestselling biography, J.K. Rowling: The Wizard behind Harry Potter, and more than a dozen other celebrity biographies. He has been a freelance entertainment journalist for more than twenty-five years, covering film, television, and music for a number of national and international newspapers and magazines.

http://us.macmillan.com/author/marcsh...

Reviews

[Jason Bodden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just finished Adele's biography titled - wait for it - 'Adele: The Biography' by Marc Shapiro. I really enjoyed this book as it gave you a real, candid look at Adele's poor roots, personal demons and meteoric rise to fame. The way Shapiro t
ells it transports you directly into Adele's world and allows us a revealing insight into how her mind works. This chronicles her journey from before she was even interested in music to being the #1 selling artist of 2012.

Reading about her songwriting processes, the way she worked for '19' and the changes made to those processes for '21', along with how she incorporated her influences in her music was pretty inspiring reading. Of course, the crux of the book settles on the failed relationships that spawned the aforementioned albums, and maybe if it were most other stars it would be the sort of thing that would make for mundane reading but Adele's shoot-from-the-hip honesty and how she used her heartbreak to cement her place in music history, shattering records along the way, is nothing short of an amazing journey done justice by Shapiro's matter-of-fact writing style. This was an easy read and I highly recommend it to any Adele fan or any musician or singer just wanting an inspirational music tale to reinforce why you love doing what you do. Great book!

[Lexi Cogis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adele Laurie Blue Atkins was born on May 5, 1988. When Adele was only three years old her dad, Mark left the house and never came back. From that point on Adele had a passion for music. However she never thought she would become a singer. In September 2006, she was signed by XL and her manager was confirmed as Jonathan Dickens. From there on her career took off. Through heartbreak and surgery Adele became the singer we all know and love today. The whole biography shows that everything happens for a reason and dreams do come true. I would rate this book a 4 out of 5 stars and would recommend it to anyone who likes the successful singer and wants to learn more about her.

[Kiyora Daniels · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about Adele, who like the other popstars started as a normal teenager but had extraordinary talent. But she had some downfalls such as alcohol, smoking, and her vocal chords. I liked this book because it shows how not all superstars are perfect. The author wanted us to learn about Adele and then use some of her downfalls and put them in your life as advice not to do. I would rate it 4 out of 5 stars.
Date Finished: 9/19/17

[Kimberly Najjar · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good book if you want an overview of Adele’s early life and career...but I wouldn’t trust all of the details. Quotes are taken from different interviews and articles, so accuracy and intention should be in question as you read. And you have to take all of the speculations of Adele’s emotions and feelings about events in her life with the consideration since they are not necessarily her thoughts and feelings. Overall it was well written.

[Dylan May · Rating 5 out of 5]

<3

[Toni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Адел е певица, която успя да промени посоката на музиката през последните няколко години и без никакво съмнение ще остане в историята с песни, които са непреходни. Малко хора могат да излязат на сцената само с гласа си и пиано, в акомпанимент и да постигнат това, което постигат други с бенд и беквокали. Единственият „недостатък”, който успяват да посочат критиците и е, че тя е „прекалено мъдра” в музиката си и „някои по-модерни музикални елементи не биха и навредили.” От интервютата, които съм гледала с нея тя впечатлява и очарова всички със своята прямота, искреност и емоционалност. В момента Адел е на 26 години, а зад гърба си има два абсолютно размазващо успешни албума, донесли и няколко рекорда на Гинес, около 80 музикални награди (сред които 10 награди „Грами”, 4 награди „Брит”, 13 награди „Билборд” и т.н.), песни, включени в редица филми и сериали и 19 филмови награди, включващи „Оскар” и „Златен Глобус”, доказвайки, that she CAN have it all.
Аз съм и почитателка и то от старомодните – демек купила съм си (добре де, подариха ми, но пак щях да си ги купя) двете и CD-та и DVD концертът в Роял Албърт Хол и със сигурност мечтая някой ден да слушам изпълненията и на живо. Съответно, нямаше как да пропусна биграфична книга за нея, защото нямам толкова често свободно време да браузвам из сайтове и да чета списания като върлите фенове. Тази книга може да се стори абсолютно позната за всички най-най-запалени почитатели на Адел, но за мен си струваше да прочета какво всъщност седи зад целия този успех и популярност. Единственият недостатък на книгата е, че е написана прекалено рано, защото в нея не влиза спечелването на наградите и «Оскар» и «Златен Глобус», раждането на и сина и предстоящият и трети студиен албум. Явно ще има Биография – том 2.
Поздрав : Един по-малко популяен дует с Даниъл Мериуедър: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TB4OC...

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was okay, though I have to say the writing was special at times. I like Adele, I like what stands for a plus-sized woman with an amazing set of pipes, but this book essentially told me what I already knew from tabloids and media. In fact, the author spent way more time referencing OTHER interviews and it just seemed so awkwardly done. Furthermore, was this book proofed? Some of the typos and grammatical errors I found were really distracting.

I guess a part of me is confused how there is already a biography out for someone who is only 24 years old. That's still a baby in some ways! But even so, it's just frustrating to compile all this information that has already been in other sources without a lot of original work being done, especially in the research category, because I question if the author interviewed her or not just based on his constant citations from other sources. Also the last chapter was also recent tabloid stuff and just felt tacked on. My mum loved this and I can in some ways see why, but may be I'm a harsher critic because the way the research was done in this book made for an easy, but dull "I already know this" nonsense.

[Nina Draganova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Взех тази книга заради дъщеря ми, която е фен на Адел,но тя не я хареса, а и няма как да й хареса , като прочете само няколко страници.В началото ми беше скучна и на мен,защото си мислех,че няма начин на толкова малки години да преживееш кой знае какви любови и раздели.Бях предубедена и си казвах - каква толкова биография може да има едно толкова младо момиче. Но сега си давам сметка,че това което е постигнала е грандиозно,като се има впредвид и откъде е тръгнала.И то за такъв кратък период.Мога да я разбера за перфекционизма й,защото аз съм от нейната зодия и в това отношение си приличаме.Мога да я разбера и за любовите и разделите й,защото съм преживяла същите неща.Единственото,което не ми харесва е многото алкохол,но тя е земно момиче и мисля ,че ще се справи с този проблем.Песните й ме докосват право в сърцето и аз й желая още много,много успехи и не се съмнявам ,че ще ги има.

[Danni Khan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Adele!!

I absolutely love Adele, i think she is amazing artist and she is beautiful, and talented..

Ive learned alot about her as an artist, even though i am not far into the book, ive learned alot so far and im anxious to get through the rest of the book and see what else she has in store for herself and her career..

im currently listening to one of her tracks as im writing this review, i find her music is about love, heart ache... at times ive dealt with both scenerios and i find her music helps me get through any rough patch im having to deal with..

one of my favourite songs is "make you feel my love" it truly shows what someone would do for someone else, and what someone would do for love!!

i really like this book so far and hope people read it and enjoy it

xo

[Jasmine Holloman · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish I would have read this book when it was released. I ruined the ending for myself, where there was none, because I am familiar with Adele's latest self-titled album and her baby.
Yet, I did learn more about Adele than I did before including her relationship with one of my favorite singers Amos Lee. The most fascinating fact I learned is that they stations would not play "Chasing Pavements" because they thought the song was about gay guys. Boy, I know they felt like they loss out and I bet they spin all of her songs into heavy rotation now.
Overall, Adele's story is very interesting and she gets better with time.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was a little disappointed in this book. I had hoped to learn more about Adele, but the author based the entire book on quotes by Adele and her associates gleaned from magazines. He did not interview Adele herself or any of her friends and colleagues. Anyone interested in learning about her could have read the articles he used to compile the book.

[David Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book for free from a giveaway at Heros & Heartbreakers. I am not much on biographies to start with but this one was OK. I have know of Adele but have never heard any of her music. (Yes it's true, I live under a rock!) The book tells her rags to riches story which is pretty cool. If you like her you should probably check this out.

[Kumari Nihal Kaur · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had to say it's quite informative. There are a lot of things I didn't know about her that were explained in this biography. However, throughout the chapters, it just got boring. I wish Marc would have done his own research instead of just collecting information from various sources. The story would have been more in depth if he had.

[Gail · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it is amazing that this young woman has accomplished so much in her young years. Marc Shapiro does an admirable job of telling me about Adele's life (so far)with just the right amount of detail. I don't read many bios but this one held my attention and gave me the impression Adele is someone I would like to know as a person. Well done!

[Hana Kraf · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think that this book is wonderful! It gives a lot of facts about Adele that you couldn't really find out on random websites! It shows her old photos and
Gives out facts about her life and how her journey to music started.
I also think that, it does teach you a lot about her emotions and what her problems were like her Father leaving her mother at a very young age.

[Julia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read for a super-fan (like me). Focuses more on the production of her albums, songwriting and inspirations rather than her early life. Sometimes felt as if it was just loads of information without substance and depth, but it had its moments.

[Hoda Marmar · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an enjoyable read, with some really good moments. But it isn't a deep look into Adele's life. I enjoyed it nonetheless, and it was fun to read a light easy read in the midst of hectic academic season.

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love Adele, but was a very easy read and discussed much about the recordings and as one of the early comments mentioned not much about her life. In saying that, I'm happy to say the book doesn't shine her in a bad light, I would be very disappointed if it did.

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book and learning about Adele's life and music career. Raised by a single, teenage mother, this biography takes you beyond Adele's beautiful voice and introduces you to various themes throughout her life, including love, loss and her desire for children.

[pianogal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good read. Little light on the primary sources, but still well-documented.

[Dani · Rating 2 out of 5]

Content was interesting (as in, Adele is interesting!) but I thought it was badly written!

[Jennifer Amos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love her music but would really have loved to learn more about her PERSONALLY rather than all about her professional life.

[Sarah H.]

I love Adele even more now.

[Debbie Gunn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found this book boring and wished I had not bothered paying good money for it. Thought it would give more insight to Adele but alas just left me guessing about her life.

[Amanda Abreu · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was like reading a newspaper. Very weak.

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book was basically a collection of information you'd find in interviews and magazines. Not what I was expecting.

[Aman · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was good, a bit like i was reading the paper though :) i love Adele a little more after reading this

[Pippa Gallagher]

I thought it was a good book. It explained her life as a young star and how she got there. I didn't know much about her and know i do.

[Emma Pasnak · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was very interesting and I learned a lot about Adele's life. I was surprised by many things I read about, since Adele is such a celebrity now.

[CINDI CAIN · Rating 4 out of 5]

great book chronicling her vocal problems, record deals & personal relationships.
For any Adele fan - easy enjoyable read.