The 10 Best Adele Songs of All-Time

Adele often refers to Adele Laurie Blue Adkins. For those who are unfamiliar, she is an English singer-songwriter who happens to be one of the best-selling artists in the entire world, as shown by how she has sold more than 120 million records even though she has been active since just 2006. As such, there are a lot of opinions on which Adele songs are the best Adele songs, but there is no denying she is one of the best when it comes to power ballads.

10. All I Ask

 

Adele is famous for having had writer’s block while working on her third album 21. As a result, her manager consulted producer Rick Rubin for his opinion, which was that he didn’t believe in any of the songs that she had written at that point in time. This provided Adele with the impetus to go to Los Angeles to work with different artists as well as different producers. “All I Ask” is one of the results, created by Adele with Bruno Mars as well as other parties. It was never a single, but its excellence can be seen in how it managed to make it onto the charts in a number of countries anyways.

9. When We Were Young

 

Speaking of which, “When We Were Young” is one of the results of the aforementioned collaboration, having been created by Adele as well as the Canadian artist Tobias Jesso Jr. It was met with either universal or near-universal positivity, though at least one reviewer joked about feeling a midlife crisis because of it. This can be attributed to the fact that “When We Were Young” is all about the fears of growing old. Something that affects all of us sooner or later.

8. Hometown Glory

 

“Hometown Glory” has the distinction of being Adele’s debut single. In fact, it is supposed to be the first song that she ever wrote. Furthermore, “Hometown Glory” is said to have been completed in just ten minutes. Fittingly, Adele wrote it in reaction to her mother’s attempt to persuade her to leave her home suburb for university.

7. Rumour Has It

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gMJ38_TQl5w

 

“Rumour Has It” isn’t the happiest of songs, which makes sense because Adele wasn’t in the happiest of moods when she wrote it. A lot of people have interpreted it as a shot taken against the media. Something that is perhaps unsurprising considering the latter’s hounding of celebrities. However, “Rumour Has It” isn’t that. Instead, Adele wrote it because she was annoyed by her friends who believed the things that they had read about her in the tabloids.

6. Set Fire to the Rain

 

“Set Fire to the Rain” received a positive reception upon its initial release. However, its live rendition met with an even better response, as shown by how it won a Grammy for Best Pop Solo Performance. There were some people who thought that “Set Fire to the Rain” was over-dramatic, but considering its high sales, it seems safe to say that there were plenty of other people who liked it fine.

5. Chasing Pavements

 

Sometimes, artists produce works that are far beyond what interested individuals would expect based upon initial impressions. One excellent example would be “Chasing Pavements,” which was one of the singles off of Adele’s debut album 19. Both the name and the subject came from an incident of her punching her cheating boyfriend. Something that led to her thinking that she was chasing an “empty pavement” while she was walking alone afterwards.

4. Skyfall

 

Bond themes may or may not be worth listening to. However, they are always notable examples of British movie music, which makes sense because of the position of the James Bond franchise in the British movie industry. Regardless, 2011 made it very clear that Adele had managed to make it, which in turn, resulted in her being invited to create the Bond theme for the then upcoming Skyfall. The result was very much reminiscent of its predecessors, being both dark and moody.

3. Someone Like You

 

Perhaps unsurprisingly, “Someone Like You” came into existence because of Adele working through her feelings about a failed relationship. As the story goes, she was with someone who she thought she would marry. However, the relationship fell through because it turned out that said individual didn’t want that. Even worse, it turned out that he did want that but not with Adele because he got engaged with someone else just a few months after the breakup. Regardless, “Someone Like You” enabled Adele to make peace with the whole thing. Moreover, it made for a great song in 2011.

2. Hello

 

“Hello” is the lead single on Adele’s third album 25. As such, it can be considered something of a comeback song because there was a considerable gap between the two albums. There are a lot of artists who have struggled under those circumstances. However, Adele wasn’t one of them because “Hello” proved to be ridiculously successful within a very short period of time. This can be seen in how it was the first single to sell more than a million digital copies in a single week. Furthermore, this can be seen in how it reached the top of the charts in 36 countries. “Hello” wasn’t particularly ground-breaking, but it proved to be exactly what people wanted from Adele.

1. Rolling in the Deep

 

“Rolling in the Deep” is the lead single on Adele’s second album 21. It boasts a mix of influences such as blues and gospel, with the result that it went on to become one of the most successful crossover songs ever released. For proof, consider the fact that “Rolling in the Deep” has sold more than 20.6 million copies, which are more than enough to make it one of the best-selling digital sales out there. As such, it is no exaggeration to say that this is a song that did a great deal to propel Adele to international stardom, particularly since it did so well outside of her home country. Subject-wise, “Rolling in the Deep” is about the tumultuous emotions of a scorned lover. However, what would have been trite with poorer handling turned out absolutely amazing, meaning that it deserves its number one position on this list.