Adele Talks Success and Britney on NPR, Performs ‘Hello’ With Classroom Instruments & The Roots on ‘Fallon’
NPR recently interviewed Adele on their program All Things Considered, following the record-breaking success of her new record 25, which has sold more copies in its first week of release (upwards of 2.4 million units to date!) than NSYNC's legendary record. It's no small feat for an artist who continually expresses "concern that her fans might have forgotten about her" since 21, her previous album that spawned its own fair share of record-breaking singles.
On whether she was prepared for the level of success that 25 has already achieved, Adele cited her ability to "know the difference between my two lives—and by two lives, I mean ‘mummy’ and then me." Nonetheless, she didn't expect success "on this level, 'cause it's never been on this level. 21 was pretty mad, but this is just insane."
Insane, yes, but Adele still takes pride in the immense emotional outpouring from her fans about her new material. As someone who "listen[s] to music as a fan" herself, "for the outlet of my emotions," Adele takes it as a great compliment "that people seem to be listening to my music for the same thing, or react to it in the same way I do with certain artists and bands."
But she also doesn't want her fans to see her as unapproachable or unlike them. So, when fans are "uncontrollably shaking" when they meet her, she thinks, "C'mon. Stop it. It's just me. I'm not Britney [Spears]. What are you doing?"
Ari Shapiro is quick to point out that Adele has well outsold Britney, to which she responds: "Britney is the queen." Shapiro later asks her if she is trying to sound like artists like Britney, Taylor Swift, or The Spice Girls—all of whom Adele admits to admiring—on her new record. Despite "[t]he whole girl power movement" making her feel inspired and fearless, Adele maintains that she "will never make a bubblegum pop record."
You can read the full transcript of Shapiro's interview with Adele on NPR's website, where they break down the album thematically (in relation to her trilogy of age-named records) and song-by-song.
In addition to her recent interview with NPR, Adele also stopped by The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon on Tuesday night to perform her hit single "Hello," but in a way we haven't heard it performed yet: accompanied by The Roots...and with classroom instruments. The wide array of instruments included bongos, a xylophone, a ukulele — even a flip phone!
Watch the performance below.
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