Pop superstar Adele takes the cover story of Hollywood Reporter Magazine‘s Women in Entertainment edition lensed by fashion photographer Ruvén Afanador. In charge of styling was Jamie Mizrahi, with set design from Charlotte Malmlöf. Beauty is work of hair stylist Sami Knight, makeup artist Anthony Nguyen, and manicurist Zola.
On women that have empowered her: It’s mainly the women in my family. I was raised by my mum and my aunties and my grandmothers, and they felt a bit stronger than anyone else I’ve ever met. They experienced [life] the hard way, what it was to be a woman. And it made them [stronger]. They just handed it down to us, so that we didn’t have to experience those things. They had to wear theirs as sort of armor, and I get to wear it as my skin because of them.
My English teachers when I was growing up, as well. And Barbra Streisand is one of them, I fucking adore her — one of my favorites. My agent Lucy [Dickins], she sounds just like me and she’s British. Beyoncé, obviously, my idol, watching her and stuff like that. And I’d say they’re probably the main ones, I think. And people like Sherry. There are so many doors that I’ve just been able to walk through because everyone else opened them, and I feel very lucky with that.
On empower young women: More than anything, it’s just being yourself. That’s one of the reasons I’ve been so lucky with my career — on top of the obvious of me being a white woman in music. I think people are quite scared of me, and they’ve been like that since I was 18. I don’t know what it is; I think there’s no room for negotiations when it comes to what I want to do and how I want to do it. And it’s always been like that. I think that comes across in my interviews.
I’m not going to say who they are – I see a lot of the girls, up-and-coming singers, I get in touch with them because no one ever did that to me, gave me any advice or any secret nuggets of truth or tricks of how to survive it in any way. So I have them ’round and we have some wine and I talk to them.
On connecting to lyrics: I think I’m an incredibly sad person, and I think I inherited a lot of sadness, and I think I’m a real empath and I’m a real feeler. And I can’t move on from things very easily. It’s like I’ve got hollow legs, but it’s just filled with things that I think I’m getting over, or I think haven’t affected me. Or things I think I’m not taking on from somebody else, but I am. And I’ve been like that since I was little.
I love every type of music, but my mum loved Jeff Buckley and I loved Jeff Buckley. I was little. I was like, “Why is he so sad?” I could tell that people were sad. So then I would sing along, and I would imitate their sadness, and I think I was able to do it because I have my own. Because music is such an emotional thing, and it’s such a personal thing. Even as a listener. With my music, and for whoever listens to it, I think I’m not the best singer in the world at all, but no one else can sing my songs like me because they didn’t write them. No one can sing my songs like me, period. They can’t sing. The lyrics are not their own. And I don’t think anyone else should sing my songs. (Laughs.)
On songs taking on a different meaning: “Water Under the Bridge” has become a really happy song for me. If you really listen to it, it’s not a happy song, obviously. But it brings me so much joy now. Like in Vegas, I love doing a little bit of the Megan Thee Stallion dance. And every time I sing it now, I think of that funny viral video [of my song and Megan dancing].
I can’t listen to “Someone Like You” because my voice sounds so young on it. I performed it on the BRIT Awards. They wanted me to do “Rolling in the Deep,” and I was like, “No, I want to do ‘Someone Like You.’ ” So I put my foot down, like I always do. And then I was getting a bit nervous. It was the first and pretty much last time I’ve ever performed in high heels. Because my legs just shake, and I want to concentrate on my singing. But I sang it and I got really emotional at the end. And the whole room stood up and you could hear a pin drop. And then I got on a flight to New York and the next day “Someone Like You” was No. 1 everywhere. It had gone viral before viral was even really a thing.
Photography © Ruvén Afanador for Hollywood Reporter, read more at hollywoodreporter.com
