From the moment she flew onto the Recording Academy's radar with her 2008 debut album 19 , the two of them had something special.
Just over a year after its release, a 21-year-old Adele made her Grammy Awards debut in 2009 as a four-time nominee, including Record and Song of the Year for "Chasing Pavements." She lost in those categories to Alison Krauss and Robert Plant , and Coldplay , respectively, but she did not leave empty-handed, winning Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.
The Grammy mash-up masters teamed her with Sugarland to perform "Chasing Pavements" live—it was a glorious first Grammys performance, in case you were wondering—and in a charming moment that foretold future charming moments like it, Adele gave a shout-out to her competitors when she won Best New Artist (which was presented to her by Kanye West—who did comment on not winning that award in 2005—and "Estelle.
Duffy , I love you, I think you're amazing," she told her fellow British chanteuse. " Jonas Brothers , I love you as well." She was chewing a bit of gum and her hand fluttered against and away from her face and her heart as her eyes welled with tears and her expression wavered between happiness and disbelief.
Before the televised portion of the ceremony but after winning for pop vocal performance, Adele told Access Hollywood that to celebrate her first-ever Grammy, "usually I'd have a whole bottle of champagne, but I've stopped drinkin', so I'm going to have a Coca-Cola and a few cigarettes, just chill out and call my mum."
All in all, a brilliant start to what would soon become a storied career.
