Adele

Adkins was the daughter of a young single mother who was raised in various working class London neighbourhoods. As a child she was fond of singing contemporary pop songs and also learning to play guitar and the clarinet. It wasn't until her teens that she was introduced to Etta James, a rhythm and blues singer, as well as other performers from the early 20th century that she started to think about a career in music. As she worked on her skills at a government-funded secondary school that specialized in performing arts, one of her friends began posting songs Adkins composed and recorded on the social media site Myspace. Her music eventually caught the attention of recording companies, and in 2006, just a few months after graduation she signed a deal with XL Recordings.