25 is the third studio album by English singer and songwriter Adele.

It was rele
ased on 20 November 2015, through XL Recordings. Following the release and inter
national success of her second studio album 21, Adele considered quitting the mu
sic industry and going out on a positive note. However, she decided to take a hi
atus instead and raise her son. During her sabbatical, she suffered from writer'
s block and rescheduled studio sessions for a new album, fearing she had lost he
r ability to write songs. In 2013, Adele had a breakthrough and the material tha
t eventually became 25 manifested, with writing and recording continuing through
2015.
Titled as a reflection of her life and frame of mind at 25 years old, 25 is a "m
ake-up record". The album's lyrical content features themes of Adele "yearning f
or her old self, her nostalgia", and "melancholia about the passage of time" acc
ording to an interview with the singer by Rolling Stone, as well as themes of mo
therhood and regret. In contrast to Adele's previous works, the production of 25
incorporated the use of electronic elements and creative rhythmic patterns, wit
h elements of 1980s R&B and organs. Like 21, Adele worked with producer and song
writer Paul Epworth and Ryan Tedder, along with new collaborations with Max Mart
in and Shellback, Greg Kurstin, Danger Mouse, the Smeezingtons, Samuel Dixon, an
d Tobias Jesso Jr.
25 received generally positive reviews from music critics, who commended Adele's
vocal performance and the album's production. The album was a massive commercia
l success, debuting at number one in more than 25 markets and broke first-week s
ales records in multiple countries, including the United Kingdom and United Stat
es; in the US, the album sold 3.38 million copies in its first week of release,
marking the largest single-week sales for an album since Nielsen SoundScan began
tracking point-of-sale music purchases in 1991. 25 eventually became the world'
s best-selling album of 2015 with 17.4 million copies sold within the year,[3] a
nd has sold 20 million copies as of June 2016, making it one of the best selling
albums worldwide.
Following 21, it was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of
America (RIAA), denoting shipments of ten million copies in the United States, m
aking Adele the only artist of the 2010s to achieve this certification with two
albums. Many journalists felt that the album impacted the music industry by enco
uraging the public to return to buying physical albums, instead of downloading o
r streaming.
Contents [hide]
1
Background
2
Writing and recording
2.1
Early sessions and writer's block
2.2
Breakthrough sessions
2.3
Scrapped tracks
3
Musical style and themes
3.1
Songs
4
Release and promotion
4.1
Singles
4.2
Touring
5
Critical reception
5.1
Accolades
6
Commercial performance
6.1
Europe
6.2
North America
6.3
Oceania and South Africa
7
Impact
8
Track listing
9
Personnel
10
Charts
10.1
Weekly charts
10.2
Monthly charts
10.3
Year-end charts
10.4
All-time charts

11
Certifications and sales
12
Release history
13
See also
14
References
15
External links
Background[edit]
Following the release of 21 (2011), Adele was considering quitting the music ind
ustry all together, stating she thought it was better to "go out on a high". How
ever, in early 2012 she announced she was simply taking a hiatus from music in o
rder to "take time and live a little bit".[4] Her hiatus from music came to an e
nd after the birth of her first child in October 2012, with Adele stating her so
n inspired her to start recording music again in order for him to "know what I d
o".[5][6] Before the album's recording came under way, Adele made a conscious de
cision not to try and create another 21 and would not make another "heartbreak r
ecord".[7]
Prior to the album's release, 25 was listed as one of the most anticipated album
s of 2015. Billboard, Fuse, The Sydney Morning Herald and numerous others placed
the album at number one on their most anticipated list, with the latter stating
"if Adele releases her third album in 2015, she could dominate the year."[8] Pr
ior to the album's official announcement, music journalists and fans speculated
that the album would be titled 25 continuing the age theme from Adele's previous
releases 19 and 21.[9][10] On the eve of her 26th birthday in May 2014, Adele p
osted a message via her Twitter account which prompted media discussion about he
r next album. The message, "Bye bye 25 ... See you again later in the year", was
interpreted by outlets including Billboard and Capital FM as meaning that her n
ext album would be titled 25 and released later in the year.[11][12]
Writing and recording[edit]
Early sessions and writer's block[edit]
Sessions with Ryan Tedder were unfruitful, though he and Adele co-wrote "Remedy"
.
On 10 February 2013, Adele confirmed that she was in the very early stages of he
r third album and was having meetings while staying in Los Angeles for the 85th
Academy Awards.[13][14] Initially recording sessions for 25 were unsuccessful, i
n which Adele suffered from writer's block. Adele rescheduled the album's record
ing stating she did not feel "ready", but returned to the studio when her son wa
s eighteen months old, which inspired her to write an album about motherhood.[15
][16] In an interview on BBC One, it was revealed that a whole album about being
a mother was written and scrapped because she thought the material was "too bor
ing".[17]
Adele stated that the album took a long time to write, saying she did not think
the album was ever going to be finished, continuing to state the process was lon
g.[18] During the initial recording Adele ran out of ideas and lost the ability
to write songs, but her team encouraged her to go back to the drawing board and
keep writing.[18] After what seemed like a very arduous process to the singer, w
ho feared she may have lost the inspiration for her writing, the material that e
ventually became 25 manifested. Adele attempted to write 25 numerous times, but
struggled, after taking time off due to motherhood Adele returned to the studio
but stated she was not ready to start writing. She then went on to take more tim
e off repeating this process "a couple of times".[19]
"Remedy"
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"Remedy" was conceived during a writing session with Ryan Tedder. Described as "
beautiful" and "heartfelt",[20] it was written about the singer's best friend, h
er grandparents, her boyfriend, and her son. Upon the song's conception, Adele w
as excited and believed she was finally creating music that she liked and felt c
onfident about. The song was described as "sassy"[21] and an "earnest expression
of devotion".[22]
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In 2013, Adele began recording once again, contacting friend and producer Kid Ha
rpoon. Adele and Harpoon went to his recording studio, however the session was u
nproductive with Adele saying: "I don't know why I wasn't ready, I just couldn't
access myself."[7] A few months passed and Adele travelled to New York to begin
working with long time collaborator Ryan Tedder, but the sessions with Tedder w
ere also unfruitful.[7] However Adele did use one of the songs from the sessions
entitled "Remedy", which was written about her best friend, her grandparents, h
er boyfriend, and her son. Adele was excited by the song and believed she was fi
nally creating music that she liked and felt confident about. After recording th
e song along with others she flew producer Rick Rubin to the studio who was disp
leased with the songs that she had written, and encouraged Adele to go back to t
he "drawing board".[7] Rubin described the songs as having no depth and stated t
o Adele;
Adele was anxious to be finished with the new album and move forward with life,
I stressed the most important thing was to be true to her voice, even if that to
ok longer and was more work ... In the new material I heard, it was clear she wa
sn't the primary writer
many of the songs sounded like they might be on a differ
ent pop artist's album. It's not just her voice singing any song that makes it s
pecial."[23]
Breakthrough sessions[edit]
Adele continued to suffer with writer's block, until she met with producer Greg
Kurstin. During the meeting with Kurstin, Adele had a breakthrough: "It all pour
ed right out of me."[24] "Hello" was written by Adele and Kurstin and produced b
y the latter, who also played bass, guitar, piano and keyboards, with Adele bein
g credited as a drummer.[25] The song was written in Chiswick, London, something
not normally done by Adele, who said she likes to write her music at home.[26]
The writing process for the song was slow, taking six months to complete. Initia
lly Adele and Kurstin started writing the first verse; finishing half of the son
g, six months later Adele contacted Kurstin to finish the song with her, with Ku
rstin stating he was not sure "if Adele was ever going to come back and finish i
t."[27] The main inspiration behind the record came from her motherhood, as well
as singer-songwriter Madonna's 1998 studio album, Ray of Light, and its song "F
rozen".[27] Although Adele clarified that she "wasn't exposed to Madonna's catal
og earlier" in life, she loved Madonna's electronic musical foray after hearing
it. "I believe everything she says on it. Some of the songs on it are an ode to
her first kid, and I needed that to challenge me." Along with Ray of Light, Adel
e also listened to musician Moby's fifth studio album, Play.[28]
You know what I found so amazing about [Ray of Light]? ... That's the record Mad
onna wrote after having her first child, and for me, it's her best. I was so all
over the place after having a child, just because my chemicals were just hittin
g the fucking roof and shit like that ... I was just drifting away, and I couldn
't find that many examples for myself where I was like, 'Fuck, they truly came b
ack to themselves,' until someone was like, 'Well, obviously, Ray of Light.'[27]
The album was mixed at Electric Lady Studios.
During the album's recording Adele travelled to Los Angeles in order to give the
recording sessions "one last push".[29] Adele spent two months in Los Angeles,
and was determined to move forward with the album.[27] During the sessions in Lo
s Angeles she also wrote "When We Were Young" alongside Tobias Jesso Jr., the tr
ack was written at a rented house where Adele used Philip Glass' piano.[15] Adel
e also worked with singer-songwriter Bruno Mars, initially the pair had attempte
d to create an uptempo song, however they created a "dramatic ballad" entitled "
All I Ask".[27]
After unfruitful sessions with Tedder, the pair went to lunch where Adele heard
Taylor Swift's single "I Knew You Were Trouble". Tedder informed Adele that the
song was produced by Max Martin, and sent her clips of his work.[7] Shortly afte
r this, Adele began work on the track "Send My Love (To Your New Lover)", rework
ing a skeleton of a song she had written when she was thirteen years old after b
eing inspired by the release of Frank by Amy Winehouse.[7] Kurstin also co-wrote
and produced the song "Million Years Ago". The song was not set to be included

on the record, but was added three days prior to the album's mixing at Electric
Lady Studios in New York.[7]