(Photo: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Adele’s fourth studio album, “30,” is out now via Melted Stone and Colombia Records.
The album arrives six years after her chart-topping album “25.” She released “Easy On Me” last month and it’s the album’s only single and her first since 2016.
The song is a poignant piano ballad that broke the world record for the most streamed song in 24 hours, with 24 million streams. Adele’s unmistakable voice tells a story about the lessons she’s learned about family, love, and her own life.
Before the single’s release, mysterious billboards marked with a simple “30” appeared around in cities world. Fans speculated that these billboards were a sign of Adele’s return, given her previous albums are titled with her age at the time of writing them.
In recent years, Adele has kept her life relatively private and stayed out of public scrutiny. Her split from her 2-year marriage to Simon Konecki was a huge inspiration for the album. She stated that her album would not simply be a divorce album, and more about the demons she faced amidst said divorce.
During a Vogue interview, Adele explained that: “Over time, the album became a way of explaining things to him — something for him to listen to when he’s older.” In an Instagram post, she referred to “30” as “my ride or die throughout the most turbulent period of my life.”
Adele’s only other promotion for the album was her appearance on CBS for “One Night Only,” paired with an Oprah special. Over 10 million viewers tuned in to the special. She performed three unheard songs from “30,” as well as her previous work. The star-studded crowd included Lizzo, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Ellen Degeneres. Adele also helped organize a surprise proposal during the event.
She is no stranger to chart-topping albums, her previous album “25,” was the highest-selling album of 2015 and 2016. Her second album was also the highest-selling album of 2011 and 2012.
Her latest album, “30” is out now.