Adele Trademarks

Known worldwide for her extraordinary and timeless voice, Adele is one of the most successful recording artists of the modern era. Still in only her mid-thirties, she has accomplished a lifetime of musical achievements including multiple American Music Awards, BBC Music Awards, Billboard Music Awards, Grammy Awards and scores of others.

Adele Laurie Blue Adkins was born in London. She was raised by her mother who was a furniture maker. She fondly recalls singing and playing guitar for her friends in Brockwell Park when she was young, which she memorializes in her song “Million Years Ago.” She graduated from the London performing arts school, the BRIT School in 2006, and just months later, her own musical career began.

Her sultry and soulful voice led her to a meteoric rise to fame. A school friend had posted her demo on social media, which led by chance to a meeting with the XL record label. She was signed by September Management shortly after her graduation. Her debut album, 19 (so called for her age), entered at number one on the British charts. It included her breakthrough song “Hometown Glory” as well as the aforementioned “Million Years Ago.”

Columbia Records and XL Recordings introduced Adele to the United States market in March of 2008, and 19 was released in the US in June. She did a very short tour in the US to promote the album, but her real breakthrough in the US came when she performed on NBC’s Saturday Night Live in October of 2008. She sang her songs “Chasing Pavements” and “Cold Shoulder,” which delighted the American viewing audience.

Adele’s first world tour was titled, “An Evening with Adele.” The tour lasted for a full year and was in support of the album 19. The tour had numerous dates in the US and a few throughout the UK and Europe.

She won the award for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards and was nominated for two other awards as well. The last stop on her tour was at the North Sea Jazz Festival

Adele’s second album was called 21, and it was released in early 2011. This album was inspired by a break up and it is noted that her trademark sound is greatly influenced by music she heard while touring states in the southern US. 21 and it’s first two singles, “Rolling in the Deep” and “Someone Like You” topped the charts worldwide and broke all kinds of sales records. She toured North America and Europe to support the album on a tour called “Adele Live.”

She was forced to cancel two different tours in 2011 due to a vocal-cord hemorrhage. She underwent a laser microsurgery to remove a benign polyp from her vocal cords. She returned to performing live at the 54th Annual Grammy Awards where she both performed and won six awards including Album of the Year and Song of the Year. Later that year she wrote and recorded the theme for the James Bond movie Skyfall, which she received her tenth Grammy Award for.

After much speculation, Adele released her third album, 25 in 2015. She has said that she believes it will be the last album titled for her age and that she believes the three albums stand as a trilogy. 25 contains the blockbuster single “Hello.” She also appeared in the BBC television special Adele at the BBC, which was her first live television appearance in several years. Later that year she performed a one night only special concert Adele Live in New York City which aired on NBC in the US. The album became the best selling album in the world for 2015.

In 2016, Adele married her long time boyfriend and father of her son, Simon Konecki. The couple divorced in 2021.

She embarked on another world tour that year as well. She toured North America, Europe and Australia for the first time. The Australian leg of the tour broke many attendance records. The tour was called Adele Live 2016 and concluded at Wembley Stadium.

Adele has amassed a net worth of about $190 million, and is expected to add to that with an upcoming residency in Las Vegas. The vast majority of her fortune has accumulated from her live performances, television specials and her musical albums.

Adele only owns one trademark. She filed documents to trademark her name in 2011, though this was not done as a shrewd business move. Adele chose to trademark her name because she says that she did not want her fans to be duped by businesses and products using her name. Adele does not lend her name or even often endorse any type of product, so the trademark of her name was her way of protecting her reputation and her fans from fraud.