Adele Laurie Blue Adkins, known professionally as just Adele, is an English singer who describes her musical style as “heartbroken soul.” She began singing at the age of 4 when she became obsessed with voices, an obsession that she says is still ongoing. Some of her influences includes Etta James and Ella Fitzgerald, who she says she stumbled upon on accident while a teenager looking through cds in a local record store.

Adele wrote her first record, “Hometown Glory” when she was only 16 years old. During her teenage years she recorded a demo and gave it to her friend who eventually put it on MySpace where it became very successful. Adele then got a record deal through MySpace, but at first didn’t believe it was real because the only record company she knew was Virgin Records. In 2007, Adele was awarded with the first ever Brit Awards Critics’ Choice Award. She then later signed to independent music label XL Recordings, which in January 2008 released her second single “Chasing Pavements.” The singer has said that the song was written after a night on the town with her ex-boyfriend, who she realized wasn’t worth pursuing anymore.

At the Grammy nomination concert last December, the Jonas Brothers told MTV News that they were big fans of her music. Adele, who performed at the Grammys with country act Sugarland, was up for four awards and won the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance award in addition to being named the Best New Artist. Her album was certified as Gold in February 2009 by the Recording Industry Association of America selling over 230,000 copies in the United States during the first quarter of 2009, ranking it fourth among international artists. Her first single, “Hometown Glory” has been re-released as her fourth, and latest, single. It has been widely featured on United Kingdom and United States television shows including “Grey’s Anatomy,” “So You Think You Can Dance,” and “One Tree Hill.” Adele wrote the song in 10 minutes after her mother tried to persuade her to leave her home town of West Norwood in London for college. You can watch the video for the song above.