Adele's backstory

Adele's first album.

Adele's first album was called 19. It was first released on January 28, 2008, through XL Recordings. Following Adele's graduation in May 2006, she graduated at the BRIT school for Performing Arts and Technology. She began publishing songs and recorded a three-song demo for a class project and gave it to a friend. The friend posted the demo on MySpace, where it became very successful and led to interest from XL Recordings This led to Adele signing a recording contract with the label and providing vocals for Jack Peñate; during this session for Peñate's song, Adele met producer Jim Abbiss, who would go on to produce the majority of her debut album.

Adele wrote most of the album's material solely, but did work with a select few writers and producers, including Jim Abbiss, Eg White, and Sacha Skarbek. Their collaborations created a blue-eyed soul album with lyrics describing heartbreak and relationships. Upon release, 19 received generally positive reviews from critics, who praised the singer's vocals and noting her as having the "potential to become among the most respected and inspiring international artists of her generation." 19 also won and was nominated for numerous accolades including a Mercury Prize, and the Grammy Award for Best New Artist. The second single, "Chasing Pavements," also won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards.

19 was a commercial success, debuting at number one on the UK charts during its release, and peaking at number four on the US Billboard 200 in 2012. The album is certified 7× Platinum in the UK, and 3× Platinum in the US. Worldwide sales for the album are at an estimated 10 million copies.

She released 4 songs in the '19' album
1. Hometown Glory which was released in October 22, 2007
2. Chasing Pavements which was released in January 11, 2008.
3. Cold Shoulder which was released in April 21, 2008
4. Make You Feel My Love which was released in October 27, 2008

19 received generally positive reviews from critics. The album holds a 68 out of 100 rating based on 19 critical reviews indicating "generally favorable reviews" from Metacritic. The album was nominated for the 2008 Mercury Prize in the category of Best Album. On December 3, 2008, the album spawned four Grammy nominations: Best New Artist, and Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Chasing Pavements." The following year, she received a second consecutive nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, for "Hometown Glory," but lost to "Halo" by Beyoncé.

The Guardian gave the album a positive review: "The way she stretched the vowels, her wonderful soulful phrasing, the sheer unadulterated pleasure of her voice, stood out all the more; little doubt that she's a rare singer, which another track first available on her MySpace site, 'Daydreamer,' confirmed." They gave the album a five star response. BBC Music was also very positive, writing, "Pitching up somewhere between blues, folk and jazz, she's included something for everyone without ever pandering to a particular trend. Her melodies exude warmth, her singing is occasionally stunning and, in the dramatic 'Hometown Glory,' the spiky cool of 'Cold Shoulder' (which is unexpectedly reminiscent of Shara Nelson-era Massive Attack) and the piano epic 'Make You Feel My Love,' she has tracks that make Lily Allen and Kate Nash sound every bit as ordinary as they are." AllMusic offered a similarly favorable review, deeming "Daydreamer," "Chasing Pavements," "Melt My Heart to Stone" and "Right as Rain" as album highlights.

However, some critics responded less favorably to the album, particularly for its similarities to the work of Amy Winehouse. Uncut said, "Allowed this gnarled rock-scribe veteran a measure of skepticism. Adele can certainly sing, but 19 reeks of some A&R trendhound making it his/her biz to sign The New Amy and not resting till s/he's found the right chick from South London to fit the bill." NME agreed, writing, "Indeed, as 19 reveals itself, it's clear that the Amy associations are little more than empty mediaspeak without any real weight. Despite the early indicators, there's precious little on the album that prevents it from collapsing under the weight of its own expectation."

People magazine gave the album all four stars, saying, "With a knockout voice that's rich and supple, robust and sultry, it's hard to believe that this singer-songwriter is barely out of her teens." Giving the album a B-, Entertainment Weekly remarked that, "Adele's songs aren't as sharp as Duffy's... Still, her singing throughout is a thing to behold." Chuck Taylor, in a positive review from Billboard magazine, said that "Adele truly has potential to become among the most respected and inspiring international artists of her generation."

In the United States, 19 debuted at #56 and remained in the lower ends of the Billboard 200 for many proceeding weeks. After a performance on the U.S. show Saturday Night Live, it rose to #46 and, a week later, to #11, with sales of 25,000+ copies sold. In 2009, after winning two Grammy Awards, the album rose to a new peak of #10 on the Billboard 200 and total sales reached 843,880. The album is now certified platinum by the RIAA. As of January 2013, the album has sold 2.45 million copies in the United States.

As of the week ending April 24, 2011, 19 was #1 on the Top Pop Catalog Albums for 9 weeks, making it only the third album by a female artist to top that chart at least that long in the past 20 years. The following week, it stayed at #1 on that chart, making it the first studio album to do so since Michael Jackson's Thriller 25 was at #1 for 11 weeks in 2008. Two months later, it moved up from #27 to #16 on the Billboard 200, topping the Top Pop Catalog Albums for a 16th week.

Thanks to the then-upcoming release of Adele's second album 21, 19 could re-enter the German Albums Chart at #42 in January 2011. 19 has sold 6 million copies worldwide. In the same week as 21 was released, 19 re-entered the UK album chart at #4 with sales of 25,419. The following week, on February 6, 2011, the album remained on the chart at #4 with strengthening sales of 27,660. It is currently the second best selling album of 2011 in the UK, just behind 21, as it tripled its 2008 seven non-consecutive week long top 10-visit with 21 straight weeks. As of July 17, 2011, 19 has sold 1,594,001 copies in the UK. In Ireland, due to the success of 21, the album returned to its peak position of #3 on the week ending March 18, 2011, three years after it originally peaked, just to set a new high at #2 the following week and to stay there for six non-consecutive weeks, just behind 21. The album debuted at #16 on the New Zealand Albums Chart, due to the success of 21 and has peaked at #3.