We Could Have Had It All: The True Story of Adele's 'Rolling in the Deep'

Like Madonna, Bono, Prince and Beyoncé before her, Adele is one
of the great mononymous superstars of our time.


Adele Adkins was born on May 5, 1988 in Tottenham, a working
class town in northern London known best for its football club,
Tottenham Hotspur. Her mom Penny Adkins, was only 18 when she was
born and when she was only two, Adele’s father upped and left for
Wales; he would never be in the picture as Adele grew up.


From the age of 4, Adele began to sing at every opportunity she
would get. When the Spice Girls emerged, young Adele would become
obsessed with the Girl Powerful group. In 2016, she would tell
Vogue, “People always think I joke about this, but the Spice
Girls blew up when I was seven, and seeing them coming from a
humble background — there was hope in it. It was really a massive
part of my life when the whole Girl Power thing happened.”


When she was 11, her mum and stepdad moved her to West Norwood in
south London, which she would immortalize in her 2007 hit
“Hometown Glory.” It was there that Adele would fall in love with
contemporary R&B and the big, classic voices that would shape
her voice in the years to come.


“Hometown Glory,” was first released in October 2007 as a limited
7-inch on a small label called Pacemaker. The song didn’t do much
until it was re-released the following year by XL. But the buzz
was growing for Adele. As 2008 arrived, she became the youngest
artist ever to win the BBC’s Sound of 2008 award, which is
selected by music critics and industry figures searching for the
UK’s most promising new music talent. She also took home the
Critic’s Choice Award at the BRITs, which was given to the top
rising star. 


Soon after, Adele released her debut album, 19, on January 28,
2008. She named it 19 because, well, that’s how old she was when
she recorded the album. It didn’t take long for critics and fans
to fixate on her age, and how mature she sounded for someone who
was only 19. 


Adele was quickly popping up everywhere on both sides of the
pond. 19 was on the shortlist of nominees for the coveted Mercury
Prize, which is awarded for the best album released by a musical
act from the United Kingdom or Ireland.”Hometown Glory” popped up
all over TV, soundtracking huge dramatic scenes in countless TV
shows like Grey’s Anatomy, So You Think You Can Dance, Coronation
Street and 90210. But perhaps the greatest achievement, at least
in Adele’s eyes, was one of her heroes, Beyoncé calling her “THE
British singer,” separating her from the rest of the pack.


Her followup single “Chasing Pavements” earned Adele her first
Grammy for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, beating out her
former classmate Leona Lewis. It was also nominated for Song of
the Year and Record of the Year. Even bigger than that, Adele
also won Best New Artist.


Now with a lot more pressure on her, Adele was ready to record
her followup album Feeling the raw sting of a recent breakup,
Adele reached out to Paul Epworth in October 2009 and immediately
they headed into the studio. She brought him a ballad she had
begun writing a couple years ago about a boy, which he felt
needed to be stronger and more aggressive in its arrangement.
With Epworth’s help they channeled the anger she felt from her
recent split and used some guitar riffs he had previously written
down.


As the two worked together, Adele began to feel her heart race,
which became the beat of the song. The two of them came up with
the verses and the chords of the song in under 15 minutes, with
the rest only taking about two hours.


This is the true story of Adele's iconic song 'Rolling in the
Deep' with newly unearthed footage from Adele herself!


Also contains clips from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_mj1CuXrPE


and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1wjMGosYa8