It gave the world some of her biggest tracks, including Someone Like You, Rolling In The Deep and Set Fire To The Rain.
And Adele, 32, celebrated the 10th anniversary of her hit record 21 being released on Sunday with a gushing post thanking fans for their support – although some followers mistook the post for an announcement of new music.
Taking to Instagram, the star admitted she can’t remember much about ‘how she felt’ in 2011 but is so grateful for fans letting her be ‘a soundtrack’ to the last decade.
‘Happy 10 years old friend!’: Adele has celebrated the 10th anniversary of her hit album 21 being released with a gushing post thanking fans
Adele penned: ‘Well I never! Happy 10 years old friend! It’s crazy how little I remember of what it was like and how I felt a decade ago.
‘But Thank You from the bottom of my heart for letting us into your lives and letting me be a soundtrack to some of it x’
21 was the album which launched Adele to international renown and success, with the majority of the tracks becoming household names.
Songs featured on the record include Turning Tables, Rumour Has It and Someone Like You.
Big hit: The record, which was released in 2011, saw Adele shoot to international stardom and featured tracks including Someone Like You, Rolling In The Deep and Set Fire To The Rain
Thankful: The singer, 32, sweetly thanked her fans for letting her ‘be a soundtrack to some’ of the past decade
Major hit: ‘The album is the best-selling album of the 21st century in the UK & was ranked the ‘Greatest Billboard 200 Album of All Time,’ wrote UMPG as they marked the anniversary
Rumour has it! Fans mistook the post for an album announcement and begged for the singer to release new music
Universal Music Publishing Group also tweeted about the momentous occasion on Sunday, highlighting just how successful 21 has been.
They wrote: #OnThisDay ten years ago, @adele graced the world with her iconic second studio album .
‘The album is the best-selling album of the 21st century in the UK & was ranked the Greatest Billboard 200 Album of All Time’
The star’s post sent fans into a frenzy with many believing she was annoucing her long-awaited four studio album, with 25 released six years ago in 2015.
One fan wrote: ‘Not me thinking this was an album announcement’ while another wrote: ‘New álbum????’
Superstar: Adele last released an album in 2015, which was titled 25, and also has records 19 and 21 to her name. Her last single was released in 2016 (pictured in 2020)
More fans pleaded with Adele to drop new music, with one writing: ‘New album soon pleaseeeeee’ with another writing:’Girl where’s the album.’
Reflecting on the success of 21 in 2015, Adele told Australia’s 60 Minutes: ‘There are elements of what happened to 21 that frightened me and got out of control.
She continued: ‘It grew limbs of its own and did marathon runs.’
The Tottenham-born superstar said that the success of 21 left her fearing that she’d become out of touch with people and wouldn’t be able to produce a follow up.
‘How am I supposed to write and record an album that people relate to, I don’t know… That’s why I backed off,’ she confessed.
The Hello hitmaker added: ‘I was frightened by it and distanced myself from it to write a real album.’
21 has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide since its release in 2011, and is now ranked as the 29th best-selling album of all time according to Business Insider.
It produced three No. 1 singles on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and scooped up seven Grammy awards in total.
Adele last released an album in 2015, which was titled 25. Any new album on the horizon will be her fourth studio record. Adele’s first album was 2008’s 19.
Her last single release was 2016’s Water Under The Bridge, which was in fact Adele’s lowest-charting track from 25.
Released on 4 November 2016, it reached number 39 in the UK, but fared better in the US and Australia, charting at number 26 and 23 respectively.
In December 2020 it was reported that Adele has reportedly laid down some initial tracks for her next album, in a top secret recording session in London, sparking fan speculation that her next musical masterpiece isn’t far off.
Impressive: 21 has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide since its release in 2011 (Adele is pictured in August 2011)
The news came from drummer Matt Chamberlain – of band Pearl Jam – who told the Eddie Trunk podcast on SiriusXM: ‘I just got to work on some new music for Adele.
‘To hear that voice in my headphones was getting me chills. It was just so powerful and emotive. You know her voice, but to be across the room from somebody doing that, it’s just insane.
‘You hear it on the radio and whatever and you go, ‘Yeah, it’s really good’, but to be in the room with these people and feel that energy, it’s just so heavy.’
The speculation comes amid reports that Adele was forced to use mediators to split up her £140 million fortune during her divorce from husband Simon Konecki.
The singer reportedly enlisted help to manage the terms of her settlement, which was finally filed earlier this month, two years after she split from the charity CEO.
Success: The Tottenham-born singer has previously said the success of 21 left her fearing that she’d become out of touch with people and wouldn’t be able to produce a follow up (pictured in 2017)
Sources told The Sun that despite Adele and Simon’s breakup originally staying amicable, they had to use mediators to agree certain terms to their settlement.
It’s thought a majority of the disputes stemmed from dividing up the Hello hitmaker’s vast fortune, after the couple agreed on joint custody of their son Angelo, eight.
A source said: ‘They made it very clear they didn’t want to set lawyers on each other but the process hasn’t been exactly straightforward all the same. The priority was making sure they did right by their son, Angelo.
‘The first thing they agreed on was sharing custody, and since then it has been about dividing up the rest of their marital finances fairly.
‘Fortunately they have managed to get there without an explosive public court case, slanging matches or scandalous claims about each other, and that gives them the best possible chance of staying on good terms in the future.’
MailOnline contacted representatives for Adele for comment at the time.
Sorting it out: It’s thought a majority of the disputes stemmed from dividing up the Hello hitmaker’s vast fortune, after the couple agreed on joint custody of their son Angelo (Adele and her ex Simon are pictured at the Grammy’s in 2017)
