There’s no denying that Adele is one of the biggest stars in the world. She’s sold out shows all over the world, she’s repeatedly smashed chart records with her albums ‘21’ and ‘25’ and all she needs to do is utter a few words on stage or in an interview to have fans in stitches or awe, depending on what she’s got to say.
Just 10 years ago, though, no one even knew who she was. But that was all about to change when she gave her first ever TV performance on ‘Later… With Jools Holland’.
With ‘James Bond’ themes, Grammy victories and iconic Brit Awards performances still a long way in the distance, Adele gave a simple performance of her oft-overlooked song ‘Daydreamer’, accompanying herself on the guitar.
She was on the same bill as legends like Björk and Sir Paul McCartney (she later recalled in an interview with the BBC that she got the gig because “someone pulled out”), but still held her own, despite admitting that she’d found the experience “really, really frightening”.
Macca remembered: “This 18-year-old south Londoner, terrified at the time... but you felt she wouldn’t falter.”
Speaking to The Guardian in 2012, Adele said: “It was my first TV appearance, and Björk did ‘The Anchor Song’ just before me, my favourite song of hers. It winded me.”
She later revealed, in an interview to celebrate 20 years of ‘Later… With Jools Holland’: “I have the fondest memories of that, the whole [experience]. Meeting Jools, the hallways, the dressing rooms, the floor - it was so much bigger than… I always thought it was tiny, because everyone’s always like ‘studios are never as big as they look on TV’, but it was massive.
“But it was just amazing, it was the best night ever.”
Still a complete unknown at the time, Adele would release her breakthrough single ‘Hometown Glory’ a matter of months later, with her debut album ‘19’ coming the following year.
To steal an old cliché, the rest is history, with the star about to wrap up her mammoth world tour with four sold out shows at London’s Wembley Stadium.
Re-live Adele’s first ever TV performance at the top of this page.