Adele married longtime boyfriend Simon Konecki in 2018, but after sharing nine years and one child together, the couple announced that they were going their separate ways the following year.
The news shocked the pop star’s fans. But as the “Easy on Me” singer revealed in a recent interview in Rolling Stone, it was the fans’ reaction that shocked her even more.
That’s because, as the news spread in the spring of 2019, those who loved her music not only expressed surprise about the split, they also seemed to simultaneously celebrate the news on social media — though not due to any sense of ill will.
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It was just that Adele has always had a gift for transforming heartbreak into beautiful music, and four years after the release of her diamond album, “25,” they wanted more.
“During something like that, that kind of significant thing to happen in life, your mind sort of goes to those places: ‘Why don’t they like me? Why would they write that if they’ve followed me for 10 years?’” she recalled.
But in time, she came to view the response differently. After all, they connected to her music, not her relationship.
“In reality, that’s not their responsibility,” the 33-year-old continued. “In reality, their responsibility as a fan is to want a good record and to hope I deliver.”
And while it took two more years before she completed work on her next album, “30,” which comes out Nov. 19, the fact that the first single is already at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 proves she definitely delivered.
Now, when looking back at the time surrounding her break from Konecki, Adele said she ultimately took the fan response “with a pinch of salt, and it was fine.” The part that bothered her most of all was that it was public knowledge at all.
“Then having so many people that I don’t know know that I didn’t make that work … it f---ing devastated me,” she continued. “I was embarrassed. No one made me feel embarrassed, but you feel like you didn’t do a good job.”
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But those days are long over now. Earlier this year, Adele and Konecki, who remain close friends and co-parents, finalized their divorce, and now there’s a new love in her life.
In July, Adele was spotted at the NBA Finals alongside sports agent Rich Paul, though it was another two months before the couple made their relationship Instagram official.
When she later spoke to British Vogue about the outing, she explained that their game attendance had nothing to do with his occupation.
“I didn’t get dragged along to the (basketball game the other night) because that’s his line of work,” she said. “I was like, ‘We’re going to the game.’”
Good thing, too, since the pair have been seen glamming it up side-by-side at other games since then.