‘Rolling in the Deep’ helped propel U.K. singer’s chart-smashing album. By John Mitchell Adele Photo: Getty Images Adele ‘s 21 has owned the albums charts since its late-February 2011 release and it continues to dominate, tallying 18 non-consecutive weeks at #1, more than any album since Garth Brooks’ 1991 smash Ropin’ the Wind and just a few weeks shy of tying the 20-week record set by “The Bodyguard” soundtrack and Elvis Presley’s Blue Hawaii . It’s fitting that the much-acclaimed mega-selling set heads into Sunday’s Grammy Awards as the odds-on favorite to score one of the night’s biggest trophies: Album of the Year. The bulk of the songs on 21 were inspired by Adele’s failed relationship with a man 10 years her senior. Following the success of her moody, ballad-heavy debut, 2008’s award-winning 19 , the singer sought to make a more-upbeat and contemporary-sounding record. Sessions for the set fell apart, however, resulting in only one completed track, “Take It All.” The song was written after a fight with her boyfriend, and when Adele played him the song, it instigated a heated argument that ended their relationship. Heartbroken but musically reinvigorated, Adele immediately hit the studio and began channeling her heartbreak into lyrics, pouring her feelings into songs that tackled her failed relationship from a variety of angles. To help her carve out the album’s sound, she assembled a top-notch team of veteran producers, including OneRepublic frontman Ryan Tedder (who has helmed tracks for Beyonc
