Successful women like Beyonce, Serena just last week in Vogue US, and Adele are more likely to write their own magazine essays these days — and for good reason. It’s the only way they can guarantee that their main points are in the headlines, and not dead on the editorial floor in a world of clickbait.

Adele doesn’t control her cover story interview with Emma Carmichael in the September 2022 issue of ELLE US. Of course, we don’t know the terms of her exchange with Carmichael and signoffs before the interview went to press. It’s stands as a masterpiece, in AOC’s opinion.

ELLE chose the clickbait quote for IG — and we promise you that it will become big headline, even though Adele shares these thoughts at the end of the ELLE narrative. AOC won’t call it out this minute, feeding it oxygen in an a rich, deeply-personal and articulate interview that is primary about Adele as an artist, her relationship with fans, the agony of walking away from her Las Vegas residency in 2021, days before its launch.

Fashion Story Details

Adele is styled by George Cortina in a repurposed shearling coat from Pologeorgis (in accordance with the ELLE International fur-free charter), Aliétte, Celine by Hedi Slimane, Courrèges, Fendi, Givenchy, Loro Piana, Marc Jacobs, Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello and more. She wears Cartier jewelry throughout in images by Mario Sorrenti. [IG]/ Hair by Bob Recine; makeup by Fulvia Farolfi

The interview is filled with small tidbits about Adele’s life moments within the global culture context in 2022. Quotes include:

Angelo, Adele’s Age Nine Son Adores Billie Eilish

Angelo, whose father is her ex-husband, Simon Konecki, is “obsessed” with Eilish, Adele says. “He’ll go up to [his room] after school and read all the lyrics and then he’ll want to discuss them.” Imagine that — a nine-year-old boy wanting to discuss Billie’s lyrics.

Adele’s Response to BST Hyde Park Summer Festival Males Riches

At the start of July, she would make her triumphant return to the stage, with two headlining nights at BST Hyde Park, an annual summer festival in London. The rest of the headliners were all men, and in response, Adele assembled an all-women bill for her shows, including Kacey Musgraves and a childhood favorite, the R&B singer Gabrielle.

Adele on London Crowds

“London crowds are the best,” Adele says, grinning in anticipation. “They’re gonna be drunk before I even go on. We’re all gonna have the time of our lives.”

That’s all in one paragraph of Emma Carmichael’s [IG] award-worthy Adele interview. That woman is GOOD!

Adele in Las Vegas November 18, 2022 to March 23, 2023

Adele in Las Vegas happens on November 18, with Carmichael and Adele together giving a deeply insightful look at what happened when the star abruptly cancelled her Las Vegas residency in late January 2022. And ‘no’, it wasn’t at all about a fight with her boyfriend Rich Paul — which is not saying there was no stress.

"I'm so sorry, but my show ain't ready," the star told fans in a tearful update on Instagram, when she announced the cancellation.

The ELLE interview goes into great depth and explanation about why this is the truth. AOC appreciates the narrative because we learn details that have nothing to do with a love affair going wrong, but rather the overwhelming scale of the Colosseum at Caesars Palace stage itself.

Adele praises at length the enormous efforts put in by her team, working in COVID-rich conditions to create the set and music. But it was all wrong explains Adele — and she was at the center of what was wrong. There was no semblance of connection with her audience, not an ounce of intimacy.

Rather, the Colosseum at Caesars Palace stage was designed for spectacles, when Adele hates showboating. The word ‘authenticity’ is so over-used that you find it hardly ever on AOC. The word ‘authenticity’ is like some bitcoin trait. We accept the word from Adele and Carmichel:

Adele was terrified of letting everyone down. But she also knew in her bones that something about the show did not feel authentic to her. “There was just no soul in it,” she says. “The stage setup wasn’t right. It was very disconnected from me and my band, and it lacked intimacy. And maybe I tried too hard to give it those things in such a controlled environment.”

The dress rehearsal the night before she cancelled, Adele stood on the 15,700-square-foot-stage and then walked across it, sitting down with her legs dangling off the edge. Removing the mic, Adele sang a cappella to the mostly empty, 4,300-plus-seat Colosseum. The mood was unpretentious and intimate. Finally, Adele had captured again her life force — and her decision to postpone was made.

Adele would beg her audience to understand, and yes, she was weeping. The financial costs had to be severe, although they aren’t mentioned. Presumably Adele has “emotional breakdown” insurance.

In the kind of Emma Carmichael move that leaves AOC shaking our head in admiration [and accepting her as a true soul sister], the writer reached out to Bette Midler, who backed up the narrative. Note, countless writers — including women writers — would not do this:

In an email, the legendary Bette Midler, who had her own residency at Caesars from 2008 to 2010, called the sheer size of the stage “absolutely terrifying.” She was supposed to make her grand entrance on a custom pile of Louis Vuitton luggage, but when it arrived during rehearsals, it felt “like Spinal Tap,” Midler wrote: “Just minuscule on that gigantic stage. We had to fix the luggage, which took weeks. So for the first few weeks I made my entrance riding a donkey.”

You add this colorful fact verification to a story for a person you know is being straight with you. Adele doesn’t tell us that she’s authentic — because it’s for others to make that determination. And preferably people who have no vested interest in promoting the person under scrutiny.

To the extent that Carmichael presents a real-deal Adele — and there is no reason to doubt that she is — Adele earns this precious word ‘authentic’.

The Love Affair with Rich Paul

In the post-cancellation of Las Vegas days, Adele worked very LA style to dig herself out of the hole. Balms, sound baths and meditation enveloped her. And their opposite. The star started a daily life of lifting weights and boxing. The routine centered her, leaving her feeling strong in her own body. Adele made peace with her estranged father, Mark Evans, who died of cancer in May 2021. Adele has said their reconciliation “set little me free.”

AOC shares one paragraph of the Adele-Rich Paul story before sending you off to ELLE to read the rest:

Finally, and perhaps most pivotally, she fell madly in love. “Beyond,” she says. “I’ve never been in love like this. I’m obsessed with him.” Adele and Paul had been friends for some time, but their relationship became romantic in 2021, and they went public when she sat courtside with him at an NBA Finals game that July. (“Lucky for him, I love basketball,” Adele says. She’s partial to the Phoenix Suns.) She turned 34 on May 5, and celebrated her one-year anniversary with Paul—as well as her purchase of a nearby Beverly Hills mansion formerly owned by Sylvester Stallone—nearly a week later.