Adele shot to international fame by writing and singing relatable songs about heartache that beautifully describe her listeners’ own pain as well. Her biggest and most popular songs from 19 and 21 are all dedicated to a former lover who broke her heart into a thousand different pieces. It’s widely known that Adele’s songs are inspired by her real-life relationship experiences, but not everybody knows that the inspiration behind her two albums came from two, very different individuals. This post aims to define the distinction.
Credit: Sarita G.
The 19 Ex-Boyfriend
Identity
No one really knows his name. What is known, and is confirmed by Adele herself, is that the former boyfriend being referred to in a number of songs in 19 is a bisexual boy with whom the then 18-year-old Adele had a passionate but tumultuous relationship.
Account of the Relationship
According to Adele’s unofficial biographer Mark Shapiro, Adele’s rocky relationship with the said person all started on her 18th birthday, the day on which she decided to confess her feelings for him. Although he had expressed that he loved her back, he hooked up with a gay friend of hers merely four hours later. Even with this betrayal, Adele was so driven by her intense feelings for him that she still believed that they could go into a relationship with each other, and they did. However, after only four or six months (depending on whose account) of being cheated on, Adele decided to end things with him. It is said that she was so heartbroken by the relationship’s demise that it was for this reason that she took to excessive drinking just to cope.
Songs He Inspired
According to Adele in an entry posted on her official website, she wrote the song Daydreamer to sing of all the things and qualities that she wanted from her boyfriend but were lacking in their relationship. She wrote that his bisexuality was a big hurdle that she found difficult to overcome. She was a jealous person and felt in her relationship that she had to worry about other guys on top of worrying about other girls interfering.
The song Chasing Pavements, on the other hand, was inspired by a particular incident in the span of their relationship. One day, at a very early hour in the morning, she found out that her boyfriend had been unfaithful and decided to confront him at the bar he was at. After punching him right in the face, she was sent out of the bar and walked home alone. This moment of solitude paved the way for clarity as she realized the bleak state of their relationship and knew that she was chasing nothing but “an empty pavement.”
His Reaction
Incredibly, the anonymous ex-boyfriend believed that he should be compensated for being the inspiration behind some of the songs in the album. When 19 was met with critical and commercial success, Adele disclosed that he had hounded her on the phone for about a week and demanded, in all seriousness, a percentage of her royalties. She rightfully brushed him off and refused to give in to his demands as she felt that he was deluded enough to think he deserved some monetary recompense because her songs were a result of ill-treatment by him. She did, however, admit that he deserved some credit because her experience in their relationship helped her to mature.
The 21 Ex-Boyfriend
Identity
Although it was never formally acknowledged by Adele, common consensus among the people around her was that the songs in her second album were inspired by Alex Sturrock, a photographer who was 10 years her senior. They were introduced to each other by common friends when Alex was working for Vice magazine. He then became Adele’s alleged official photographer during her tour of the US in 2009. In relation, Adele had also described that the man who was the inspiration for most of the songs in 21 was the love of her life.
Account of the Relationship
Adele and Alex allegedly started dating in summer 2008 and were virtually inseparable in the succeeding months. Alex accompanied her all over the US and even to the Grammys, where she received accolades for her first album. Adele not only considered him her boyfriend but her best friend as well. However, despite all this, Alex didn’t recognize her as his girlfriend. It left Adele heartbroken once again, and they split in April 2009. Shortly after, Alex was engaged to another woman.
Songs He Inspired
Songs about a former relationship riddled the second album more than it did the first. Rolling in the Deep is a revenge-themed song dedicated to the former lover who purportedly told her that she was weak and that her life would be meaningless without him. Set Fire to the Rain, in addition, is a song written to express Adele’s difficulty of letting go. Other songs about the broken relationship can be found in the track listing but the ultimate articulation of her overall feelings about it is the song Someone Like You. The song elevates the voice of a young woman who painfully accepts that the person whom she still loves is moving on to a happy life without her.
His Reaction
It seems that being older equipped him with the maturity to respond well to the songs, as it turns out that Adele and her ex-boyfriend have rekindled their friendship. Overwhelmed by the tremendous success of the album all over the world, Adele decided that it was more important that she shared the experience with her former boyfriend, so she forgave him. She acknowledged that the album helped her surpass the painful emotions she felt and changed her for the better.
Even though turning heart-breaking memories into song helped catapult her into superstardom, Adele has declared that she is done with writing breakup music. Therefore, we may look forward to hearing happier songs from Adele in the future.
Now that we know the stories behind her first two albums though, we end this post with a rendition of what is arguably Adele’s most poignant song by a young and up-and-coming British singer. Here is Daniel Ryan at the piano singing a moving and heartfelt cover of Someone Like You.
All Things Adele 