You know what I like about Adele? After she hosted Saturday Night Live back in October, when so many people were speculating she’d be announcing a new album…and she didn’t (she just wanted to experience it for fun)… she signed off on Instagram – “peace out til next year”:
And she meant it. A lot of celebrities can’t help themselves. They take a break and it lasts a week, or less. But when Adele said I’m done with 2020 and you’ll hear again from me in 2021, she followed through. We don’t know how Adele spent the holidays; we have no idea who she hung out with, what she’s been doing. She’s OK with not being talked about and/or thought about. She understands how valuable it is to be missed.
Yesterday Adele posted on Instagram for the first time this year to commemorate the ten year anniversary of her album 21:
It is not hyperbole to call this album a major work of art. 21 is one of the bestselling albums of all time, the fourth best of all time in the UK. It was her second album, following 19, but the one that made her a Big F-cking Deal. Back in 2011, it seemed like everyone knew every word to this song, especially after she performed it at the BRIT Awards a month after the album came out. James Corden’s introduction of Adele’s “Someone Like You” was exactly why we all responded to it the way we did:
This is one of those moments when it’s a song that’s an “old friend”. We’ve known this old friend for ten years now. How is that even possible?
It’s interesting to me that Adele wrote in her caption that “It’s crazy how little I remember of what it was like and how I felt a decade ago” since this is a song specifically about remembering what it was like and how it felt. But I think what she’s saying could also apply to who Adele is now in our minds. Over the last few years, especially since she’s been so quiet and made some significant changes in her personal life, there was the sense that people were trying to hold on to the Adele that we met back then – the spirit of her, and yes, even the shape of her. She let go of whoever that was before others were ready. Are we ready now?
