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Adele Adkins’ debut album ‘19’ helped to launch the singer’s career back in 2008 after she graduated from The BRIT School, in London. The release reached number one on the UK albums chart and featured hits ‘Hometown Glory’, ‘Chasing Pavements’ and ‘Make You Feel My Love’. Despite the critical acclaim her music received, including two Grammy Award wins from four nominations, away from the limelight she was less than impressed.
Adele launched into a furious tirade against the Government when she received her tax bill following the success of her first album.
Her inflammatory comments were considered insensitive and attracted criticism from large swathes of the public.
They came after a large sum was demanded from her, according to Sylvia Patterson’s 2016 memoir ‘I’m Not with the Band: A Writer’s Life Lost in Music’.
In 2011, the star said: “I use the NHS, I can’t use public transport anymore doing what I do, I went to a state school, I’m mortified I have to pay 50 percent!
“I’d be sitting there for five hours if my appendix burst, trains are always late, most state schools are f***ing s*** and I’ve gotta give you like four million quid? Are you f***ing having a laugh?
“When I got my tax bill in from ‘19’ I was ready to go and buy a gun and randomly open fire with my eyes closed.”
On Twitter she was branded as “ignorant”, “self-aggrandising”, “a moron” and told “f*** you”, in response to the comments.
In July that year, Ms Patterson recalled bumping into Adele at Wireless Festival, in London’s Hyde Park, where the comments still haunted her while she spoke to musician Example.
He joked: “Don’t talk to her about tax! Everyone hates you now!”
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Adele apparently cringed at the comment and “croaked, ‘I know’” before she “bolted out of sight”.
The outburst was the first time the singer had been publicly humiliated for her comments and appeared to pull-away from public life after that.
It was claimed that her off-the-cuff comments were made due to not understanding the scrutiny associated with fame because she had become a household name so quickly.
She re-emerged in 2015 with the release of third album ‘25’, but only gave a handful of interviews due to fearing there could be another “toxic” moment.
Adele claimed that her previous outburst had meant she found speaking candidly rather “frightening”.
The backlash she received from her 2011 comments about tax had allegedly left her with anxiety dreams about falling from tall buildings.
In subsequent years, Adele, who nows lives in the US, continues to shy away from the spotlight apart from when she releases songs and albums, along with with pledging support to a handful of causes.
Earlier this month, she pledged her support to those still seeking justice following the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire that claimed the lives of 72 people.
She spoke out for the third anniversary of the disaster: “I want to send my love to all of you today, and let you know that I’m thinking of you, as I always do.
“Even though we’re having to do this in the virtual world, online, in 2020 Zoom life as it is, it’s still so important for us to mourn together.
“For us to remember that night and to reflect on that, and also reflect on where we are now, and also to celebrate the lives that were lived before they were sadly taken that night.”
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