My thoughts on Adele finally winning big in the Grammys and why she matters
Adele photo by Robyn Beck
Adele’s acceptance speech after winning all of her five nominations in the recently concluded 59th Annual Grammy Awards is a testament to her humility despite her being one of the greatest artists alive today. Adele was so sincere, down-to-earth, and thankful that she has won all the categories she was nominated for in this year’s recently concluded 2017 Grammy Awards.
When you think of it, that is precisely why Adele finally winning all of the major categories was so timely. Inevitably, it had to happen in order to break the cycle of awarding mostly the same artists year in and year out in the last five to six years. To be brutally frank here… when some of the past and repeat awardees would give their acceptance speeches… viewers at home would certainly not miss their attitude of “entitlement” to such prestigious awards.
I would not want to think that they have become complacent already with their position. But it would seem that for some of them, they had assumed that they will win each year with every brand new album they put out! Such circumstances raised a few questions like: “Where is the new competition?” and “Where are the viable contenders that could dethrone the ‘same old group’ of winners in the last several years?” I believe that with Adele being the big winner this year, she has now finally leveled the playing field in the Grammys.
Other than that, Adele has attained one of her lifelong dreams.
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Why Adele matters
I believe that if Adele had even been around in the 60’s or 70’s, she would still have done well for herself. And given that Adele is one of the greatest pure singers alive today, the chances of her succeeding in any era in popular music are highly possible. Indeed, anyone who has a “good ear” for music and can appreciate true and genuine talent would either become a fan of hers or at the very least acknowledge how great she is!
There is a classical quality to Adele’s singing voice that has contributed greatly to her possessing a “timeless appeal” for everybody regardless of age group. This makes complete sense as to why she is not just a popular artist for the current generation, but more so with people in their 40’s, 50’s and even 60’s who enjoy her music, too. For the older generation, Adele reminds them so much of the kind of music they grew up listening to and cherish to this very day.
Looking back to as far as my memory can take me, I am trying to think if there were other singers like Adele. Yes, there were a lot of that superior breed of singers decades ago but most of them by now are either retired or no longer able to sing on the same level they once could. Sadly, a lot of them have gone ahead.
That is one of the main reasons why Adele is above almost every other mainstream artist that we know and hear, thus far, because Adele represents a much-missed time by mostly our parents and even grandparents in the music industry. Adele is a throwback to that bygone era in popular music. That is a rare and unique trait she possesses because she is not intentionally packaged to be that way. How she presents herself to the public is merely an extension of her true persona. She is so comfortable in her own skin that the old adage, “What you see is what you get” applies to her.
In all likelihood, that “Golden-Age” in popular music will never ever happen again with the way things have been going. And that being the case, the more it raises her value to unseen heights because–now more than ever–she is viewed as a “modern living link” to that glorious and celebrated era.
People can spot a fake immediately and Adele is surely not a “fake” or else that would have been reported already with the paparazzi, music magazines, broadsheets, news based websites and 24-hour news channels around. With social media, nothing at all can remain hidden from the public eye and for that very reason, it can be ruled that Adele has one of the cleanest and most wholesome of reputations among artists today. Her fans know this which is why Adele is beloved by so many because they see an artist who is still grounded, not detached from reality and perhaps, the most important of all… is that they see a good person in her.
All of that just adds to the mystic and allure that surround Adele… because for now there is no one exactly like her as a whole which makes her continue to stand above the rest… and for all the right reasons at that.
Adele’s name is already etched in the annals of popular music. She will have a legacy to leave behind when everything is said and done. In the meantime, let us continue to appreciate who she is as an artist.
