Yes she’s a diva, but here’s why we should go easy on Adele...
Mental health issues? Honestly. You have to laugh. Or you would if it was appropriate, but it isn’t, so don’t bother.
For years now, encouraged by Prince William and Prince Harry and their respective wives (before they fell out about who got the tree planting gig in nottingham and whether or not Meghan’s bridesmaids should wear tights), we have all been dutifully focused on mental health issues.
Heads together, people! Join the conversation, be aware of the darkness within and help to banish the stigma.
What stigma, I always wondered, but never mind. It turns out that lots of celebrities have mental health issues they want to share.
Fearne Cotton wrote a book about hers, lady Gaga publicised her PtSD issues, Stephen Fry ad infinitum. We are sympathetic, we are compassionate, when they cut we bleed, not really, but you know what I mean.
Never mind that potential serial killers and frothing jihadists can’t get appointments with nHS psychiatrists because, encouraged by the royals and celebs, the system is clogged up with teenagers worrying about their spots and Sharon from next door explaining to a yawning shrink how she feels ‘a bit blue’ on Monday mornings.
We are all in it together, moving forward as a compassionate nation. Or are we?
You only have to look at adele — and the reaction to her last minute cancellation of a las vegas residency — to see that we are very, very much not. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised when a diva behaves like a right diva, but somehow we are. We are outraged! agreed, there is no one more annoying than adele, with her monstrous self-obsessions, her thrilled delight in herself and her careful curation of her own darling eccentricities — bah! — but hang on a minute.
Maybe something more serious is amiss here. Maybe it’s something more than just another celebrity having a tantrum because there aren’t enough blue Smarties in the dressing room and her chin hairs show up in the key light. Maybe there isn’t, but for the moment, shouldn’t we give adele the benefit of the doubt?
the 33-year-old singer certainly seems to be in the middle of a tonga-tastic sized emotional eruption; a full blown melty that is unfortunately taking place in public.
She has been reportedly sobbing, blubbing and shouting, while remaining unable to get to work or complete a single rehearsal. Coming closely after relocating to another country then endured the pandemic and a divorce, it is clear that adele’s living has not been easy.
Doesn’t all this raise enough red flags to make us view her situation more sympathetically? there is more than one mental health trigger here, but instead of empathy and understanding, everyone seems to be furious with her.
Perhaps they are right to be. Many fans have lost money and are sorely disappointed by the last minute cancellation. I tried to get tickets myself, enrolling as a verified Fan and taking part in the ticket lottery, but I failed to make the cut.
PHeW! now it is clear that the successful ones were the unlucky ones, now out of pocket and out of sorts. and no, I won’t be buying an overpriced £100 standing ticket to see her in london’s Hyde Park in July.
For who would risk buying an adele ticket again? What company would insure her, which venues would clear their schedules for her? this is not the first time this has happened in adele-land, but it might very well be the last.
What is going on? I just don’t think she can handle it any more.
For a singer-songwriter and solo performer such as adele, the rewards of success are huge, but so is the pressure. Much is given, but much is demanded, too.
One reason why adele adkins from tottenham is one of the world’s biggest stars is not just her mastery when writing songs of heartbreak, her perfect pitch and unclouded mezzo-soprano, it is because she can imbue her voice with so much emotion.
When she sings, adele can make grown men cry, stop women in their tracks. and the reason she can do that is because she is such a geyser of emotion herself — it’s all there, pooling just below the surface, readily available. She taps into her feelings like someone tapping for maple syrup. tap, tap, whoosh! all of a sudden there is syrup to spare, enough to pave your pancakes from here till next year.
So maybe we should not be surprised that she is the way she is; a big, hot emotional mess. Performers today need to be polished, consummate, emotionally tough — and adele, bless her, is none of these.
In the bad old days, a high doh diva such as she would be drugged up and pushed onstage with a manager’s boot print in her back.
Judy Garland was given pep pills, other stars were dosed up with tranquillisers, many self-medicated with drugs and booze to get them though the trauma they felt about performance and public expectation. and yes, it is a trauma for some. Barbra Streisand — so like adele, right down to the lavish manicures — didn’t sing live for 27 years because as her fame increased, so did her stage fright.
So all I am saying is that it feels wrong to support mental health initiatives — and of course we all do, Meghan! — then turn around and criticise this woman, who is clearly struggling with something.
reports from vegas say adele’s team were ‘a nightmare’ while the star herself complained that the stage set was not right and that she hated the ‘baggy pond’ water feature incorporated in the design.
But that’s not what it’s all about, is it? It is not about the stage itself, it is about the fact that, for reasons unknown, adele simply cannot force herself onto it, for the time being at least.