The Year In Music 2016: Adele Conquers the World (Again)

December 27, 2016 Music News Group

Alasdair McLellanAdele ended 2015 as one of the biggest stars in the universe, thanks to her comeback hit “Hello” and smash album 25. But in 2016, Adele became an even bigger star, as her album continued to sell by the truckload, and she launched a global tour which seemed to make headlines every night. Here’s a look at Adele’s amazing 2016:

-Adele kicked off the year in a big way by guest-starring on Carpool Karaoke, her friend James Corden’s viral segment his Late Late Show. Not only did she and James duet on her own hits, but she busted out “Wannabe” by the Spice Girls, and rapped an amazing version of Nicki Minaj’s verse on Kanye West’s “Monster.” That segment went on to become the most-watched Carpool Karaoke in the show’s history, and the most-viewed YouTube video overall for 2016, racking up over 136,000,000 views.

-In February, Adele returned to the Grammy stage but had a rare bad night: her performance of the ballad “All I Ask” was plagued by sound issues and bad notes — “the microphones fell onto the piano strings,” she explained. Initially, she tweeted that she consoled herself by eating a burger, but she then told Ellen DeGeneres that she was “so embarrassed” and even cried the next day.

-Also in February, Adele won four trophies at the Brit Awards, the British equivalent of the Grammys, and sang her hit “When We Were Young.” At the podium, she publicly offered support for Kesha, who had made headlines for suing her producer for allegedly abusing her.

-In March, Adele was nominated for a daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Musical Performance in a Talk Show/Morning Program, but she lost to Rachel Platten. Later in the year, her NBC special Adele Live in New York City was nominated for four primetime Emmys, but didn’t win.

-Also in March, Adele confirmed that she was headlining the U.K.’s most prestigious festival, Glastonbury. Her performance there in June, watched by millions on TV, helped her album 25 return to the #1 spot on the British chart.

-In May, Adele was named Songwriter of the Year at the Ivor Novello Awards, which honor excellence in British and Irish songwriting and composing. Also in May, she won five Billboard Music Awards, including Top Artist. During the ceremony, which aired on ABC, she premiered her video for her new single “Send My Love (To Your New Lover).”

-Adele’s North American tour kicked off in July, and featured the singer interacting with the audience as much as singing. She posed for photos, brought fans up onstage for proposals, swore and gave shout-outs to her favorite local attractions and food. The long-awaited trek ended up being the top music tour of 2016, according to StubHub, and won a Adele touring award for Breakthrough Artist. It grossed just over $159 million, with dates in Australia and New Zealand to come.

-In September, Adele’s album was certified for sales and streams of 10 million copies or more, making it one of the few albums in history that has gone Diamond. It only took ten months for the album to rack up those sales. Over 2015 and into 2016, 25 spent 10 weeks at #1 on the chart in total and spawned three hits; a fourth, “Water Under the Bridge,” is just starting to climb the charts.

-In October, Adele announced from the stage in Miami that even though she was British, she supported Hillary Clinton “100%” and told her fans “Don’t vote for him, that’s all I’m saying.” Turns out that Clinton was actually in the audience at that particular show.

-In November, Adele announced that the “finale” of her tour would take place June 29 and July 1st, 2017 in London’s Wembley Stadium.

-In December, Adele was named Billboard’s Artist of the Year for an unprecedented third time. She was also named Top Female Artist of the Year, Top Album Artist of the Year, Top Adult Pop Songs Artist and many other titles.