Musician of the year: Adele

When Adele spoke with USA TODAY shortly before unveiling 25 — the album for which the entire pop music community had been holding its breath — she said,
"I don't think I'll ever have more success with an album than I did with 21." The singer/songwriter referred, of course, to her 2011 blockbuster, which had been the best-selling album of that year and 2012.

In fact, 25, released Nov. 20, broke a record for single-week album sales in just over three days, according to a chart launched by Nielsen SoundScan in 1991. By that time, it also had surpassed Taylor Swift's 1989 (released last year) to become, according to Nielsen Music, the best-selling album of 2015. By Dec. 21, 25 had sold more copies than any album since, well, 21.

When you get the people draking harder than Drake...
Adele, who will kick off a North American tour next July, has sustained and, by all evidence, expanded her audience by refusing to cater to pop clichés. If anything, the sobering, haunting songs on 25 — inspired by an "early-life crisis," she quipped — are more challenging than her previous work. They're fueled by a voice that has become one of the most unmistakable in popular music, distinctive not only for its power and texture but also for its emotional directness.

As a public personality, too, Adele stands apart from other contemporary divas. At once warmly accessible and fiercely private about her life out of the spotlight, which includes a 3-year-old son, she has juggled an earthy sense of humor with razor-sharp marketing savvy, evidenced by 25's enticing and expertly controlled rollout.

If the maturity of her music has appealed to many fans who wouldn't usually be tuning into a twentysomething singer, Adele has also been a source of inspiration for younger women in particular, on issues ranging from body image to self-responsibility. We can't wait to hear what her midlife crisis will sound like.
What did we do without her soulful sound before? Take a look back at this young British singer with the adult voice through the years, starting with the cover image of her latest record, '25,' coming Nov. 20. It's her third record and her first in four years. It's also the first time we've seen much of her in public since the end of 2013.  AP,youtube