From the moment Adele first broke out onto the scene in 2008 with her debut album, 19, it was clear she was something different. And for the next decade-plus, the British singer-songwriter (full name: Adele Laurie Blue Adkins) continued to show just how special she was in everything from her amazing voice to her famous potty mouth to her impressive weight loss and glamorous makeover.
The “Rolling in the Deep” singer is the winner of a whopping 15 Grammy Awards and 18 Billboard Music Awards as well as an Oscar and a Golden Globe. Along the way to her total domination of the music world, the soulful songstress has undergone major life changes — including the birth of her son, Angelo, in 2012, her marriage to Angelo’s dad, Simon Konecki, in 2016, and their eventual separation in 2019 — and shown off her changing style to fans across the globe.
The extremely private chart-topper has been body-positive since the start of her career. “I have never been insecure, ever, about how I look, about what I want to do with myself,” she told the Daily Mail in 2009. “My mum told me to only ever do things for myself, not for others.”
And she attributed some of the early support she got to her relatable weight. “Fans are encouraged that I’m not a size 0 — that you don’t have to look a certain way to do well,” she told Vogue that same year.
Adele did, however, end up slimming down in 2012 before her son was born that October, though she never lost her curves. And in 2016, long after the outspoken star had become multi-platinum, she starred in another Vogue cover. Of her smaller size, the star, who came from a rough working class London neighborhood, told the magazine, “I was trying to get some stamina for my tour, so I lost a bit of weight.” She joked that her slim down was responsible for her new shopping habit: “Now I fit into normal, off-the-shelf clothes — which is a really big problem for me!”
Her personal trainer, Pete Geracimo, explained the focus on her health in May 2020. “When Adele and I started our journey together, it was never about getting super skinny. It was about getting her healthy. Especially post-pregnancy and post-surgery,” he wrote via Instagram at the time. “When 25 dropped and the tour announced, we had to get ready for a 13 month grueling schedule. In that time, she warmed to training and made better food choices. As a result, she lost considerable weight and people took notice.”
No matter how you look at it, Adele’s journey and transformation through the years has been incredible. Scroll through to see some of the star’s best photos through the years.