Entertainment

Adele Says She May Never Tour Again

by S. Atkinson
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Brace yourselves, children. You thought you had decades to treat yourself to one of the hottest concert tickets in town. But, no, happiness is a lie, because Adele may never tour again. Smash open your piggy bank, go raid your savings account, and make an irresponsible purchase, because your rainy day Adele-concert-ticket fund may be useless. The singer told her audience in Auckland on Sunday March 26 that "touring isn’t something I’m good at" and that she doesn't know if she "will ever tour again." The concert was her final date on the tour outside of Britain; the musician will perform four sold-out dates at Wembley Stadium this summer. But, as all Adele fans know, this news hasn't exactly come out of nowhere.

In an interview in 2016 with Vanity Fair, the superstar admitted she doesn't like touring and she doesn't care about the material gain to be made from it, stating:

“I’d still like to make records, but I’d be fine if I never heard [the applause] again. I’m on tour simply to see everyone who’s been so supportive...I don’t care about money. I’m British, and we don’t have that... thing of having to earn more money all the time.”
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But perhaps we can be a little skeptical. After all, in 2016, The Sun reported a rumor that, once Adele wrapped up her tour, in the November of that year she'd be taking a decade-long break from touring in order to raise her son. The fact that we're four months past that date and Adele is still working could give us some slight glimmer of hope, even if she's once again announced her decision to stop touring.

So what's a person to do in the wake of this tragic news? Curl up in the fetal position and weep gently? Scream at the heavens? Yes, totally — but make sure you have the right soundtrack to do so. Let's start with her wonderful 2011 Royal Albert Hall performance of "Someone Like You":

Not only does the video show off what seems to me like a highlight of an Adele performance — a lot of chatty back and forth with the audience — but the song showcases the British singer's restraint with her magnificent voice. While she could go over the top theatrical with a ballad like this, you always get a sense of the musician holding herself back just a touch, so her anthems stay sincere, not campy.

No? Not a fan of this tune? Then how Adele breaking America in just a cardigan?

She doesn't even dress up to hit a Beatles level of popularity in the United States, and I dare you to listen to this track and not get goosebumps. It's partly the star's effortlessness; she barely seems to try.

Still not your speed? Then let's take it down a notch with an acoustic jam.

Because she's Adele, and she doesn't need an entire orchestra behind her to make her music magical. Nope. It's all about those honeyed vocal stylings and that easy charm.

I respect that Adele has a child and would probably rather focus on her family and writing new music over touring. All the same, if she does finally decide to leave us bereft of her live performances, it's going to be a colder, crueler, Planet Earth.