Music

Adele says she wrote her new album to explain her divorce to her eight-year-old son

‘I wanted to explain why I chose to dismantle his entire life in the pursuit of my own happiness’

Adele: the singer tells Vogue that her recent weight loss was caused by anxiety. Photo: Alasdair Mclellan/Vogue via PA Wire

Fri Oct 8 2021 - 10:45

Adele has told Vogue magazine that she wrote her new album to help explain her divorce to her son.

The 33-year-old singer, who is set to make her musical comeback next week with her new single, Easy on Me, features on the cover of both the UK and US editions of the magazine, with a different interview in each.

She says she recorded a lot of her upcoming album for her eight-year-old son, Angelo. “I just felt like I wanted to explain to him, through this record, when he’s in his 20s or 30s, who I am and why I voluntarily chose to dismantle his entire life in the pursuit of my own happiness ...

“It made him really unhappy sometimes. And that’s a real wound for me that I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to heal. He has so many simple questions for me that I can’t answer, because I don’t know the answer. Like why can’t we still live together? That’s just not what people do when they get divorced.

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“And: ‘Why don’t you love my dad any more?’ And I’d be, like, ‘I do love your dad. I’m just not in love.’ I can’t make that make sense to a nine-year-old.”

Vogue: Adele on the cover of the magazine’s British edition. Photograph: Steven Meisel/Vogue via PA Wire

Adele, who headlined the Glastonbury festival in 2016, announced her split from Simon Konecki, the chief executive of a charity, in April 2019. Their divorce was finalised in March this year, and they share custody of Angelo.

She is now dating Rich Paul, an American sports agent whose management company, Klutch Sports Group, represents basketball stars including LeBron James, Anthony Davis and John Wall.

She tells Vogue she did “date before Rich, but they hated it”. “They’d find it stressful being out or seen with me. Whereas he’s not frazzled by it at all ... It feels like it’s consistent and considerate enough that I don’t care who knows.”

Vogue: Adele on the cover of the magazine’s US edition. Photo: Alasdair Mclellan/Vogue via PA Wire

In the interview she also talks about her recent weight loss. “It was because of my anxiety. Working out, I would just feel better. It was never about losing weight. It was always about becoming strong and giving myself as much time every day without my phone. I got quite addicted to it. I work out two or three times a day.”

Adele has not released an album since 25, in 2015. All three of her studio albums so far have been named after the milestone ages she hit during the creative process.

Her collaboration with Vogue is the first of its kind in the magazine’s 129-year history: each edition features a different fashion shoot and interview. The cover of British Vogue features a close-up of Adele wearing a yellow dress with a large silver brooch, while the US edition shows her wearing a long green gown. – PA

VogueAdeleRich PaulSimon Konecki