Is Adele's Success Comparable To Music Legends?

[Deleted]

with Adele's continuing massive success with her second #1 album, a huge #1 hit and consistantly breaking records, worldwide mass appeal, I haven't seen someone having this much success or major appeal since Michael Jackson and a few other music legends, at least in my opinion. So the question is, is her success and appeal comparable to MJ and other music legends of the past or not? What's your take on Adele's continuing and major success?

[Jack]

Two topics with two follow ups saying the same things. Gosh.

[Deleted]

^ please keep it related to the subject matter, I know the mistake I made, it wasn't intentional, I don't need to be reminded of it. Unless is related to the topic, please don't comment about anything else that isn't relevant to the topic of the thread (if Adele's success is comparable to MJ and other music legends, that's what I want your intake on). Also, keep it clean and in a respectful manner.

[Deleted]

Friendly tip: You are allowed to delete posts. So since your two posts are the only ones in the other thread, if you delete them then they'll go away.

[Deleted]

You're right, I should have done that, duly noted, will make sure to do that next time. Now can we get started on talking about the subject?

[SPRΞΞ]

She'll go down as a vocal legend like Whitney or Aretha, but not as an entertainment legend like Michael Jackson, Madonna, or Frank Sinatra.

[smoothcriminal12]

Well Shania Twain was pretty huge too but I'm not sure she'll go down as a legend. Adele will be remembered as a great vocalist. Michael was a different type of artist, really, one of the greatest entertainers of all time and one of the most talented artists to ever perform pop music.

[sundaymorningguy]

With all honesty, I think she is filling the void of a great AC artist/vocalist that so many soccer moms, Basic Betty's, and homogenized homos have been missing. I mean who else in the industry really captures that type of everybody market aside from Taylor Swift. She is great, but I don't think she has delivered a song that people will remember her for years to come at least not yet in my opinion.

[Fat Ass Kelly Price]

She'll go down as The Great White Hope That Succeeded. Poor Joss and Duffy.

[Deleted]

She will be known as the soulful Celine Dion. Less vocal ability, less cheese. Celine overcame the lack of soul with some bomb ass stage movements/ticks and over the top antics that made me chuckle as a wee little one . Urban legend states she once did a karate kick in the middle of a ballad. Celine could also twirl for her life. Young and mostly old women and other humans  love Celine like they do now Adele.


Is this off topic? or was this what Billboardfan was looking for? I haven't been yelled at in a while.

[Envoirment]

Comparable? In some ways her success is in a league of its own. To think everyone was worried she wouldn't be able to live up to the success of 21. Instead she tore up the record books and is going to have the two biggest selling albums of the decade in a couple weeks time.

Will Adele be regarded as a legend in a few decades time? I'm not going to say for certain, but given how on point her team are handling her and with subsequent album releases, she's well on her way to that status.

[YourFaveIsAFlop]

She's never going to be on the level of somebody like Mariah or Whitney because she chooses not to be in the media the way they were in their peaks. It's too early to say if she'll be a "legend" because there are a lot of factors that go into making an artist into what the public considers legendary. As successful as Adele is, she still has not had her pop culture moment that will solidify her status in the public consciousness. Celine Dion was massively successful before My Heart Will Go On. Then she became CELINE DION, THE BEST SINGER...IN ZEE WORLD. Adele needs a pop culture moment that makes her so massively ubiquitous that she transcends her role as pop singer and becomes a pop culture icon.

[Envoirment]

Dec 9, 2015 8:39:42 GMT -5 YourFaveIsAFlop said:

She's never going to be on the level of somebody like Mariah or Whitney because she chooses not to be in the media the way they were in their peaks. It's too early to say if she'll be a "legend" because there are a lot of factors that go into making an artist into what the public considers legendary. As successful as Adele is, she still has not had her pop culture moment that will solidify her status in the public consciousness. Celine Dion was massively successful before My Heart Will Go On. Then she became CELINE DION, THE BEST SINGER...IN ZEE WORLD. Adele needs a pop culture moment that makes her so massively ubiquitous that she transcends her role as pop singer and becomes a pop culture icon.

Have you been asleep for the last month or something?

[YourFaveIsAFlop]

Adele has sold a lot of records. She hasn't become a cultural icon the way Elvis or MJ or Celine Dion or Whitney Houston have.

[when the pawn...]

Depends on what is really being asked here. Her chart (and award) success is comparable with any legend you can name. But does that success place her into the GOAT conversations? No.

[magik]

Dec 4, 2015 19:13:13 GMT -5 sundaymorningguy said:

With all honesty, I think she is filling the void of a great AC artist/vocalist that so many soccer moms, Basic Betty's, and homogenized homos have been missing. I mean who else in the industry really captures that type of everybody market aside from Taylor Swift. She is great, but I don't think she has delivered a song that people will remember her for years to come at least not yet in my opinion.

I guess "Rolling in the Deep" and "Someone Like You' just don't exist.

[magik]

Dec 9, 2015 8:39:42 GMT -5 YourFaveIsAFlop said:

She's never going to be on the level of somebody like Mariah or Whitney because she chooses not to be in the media the way they were in their peaks. It's too early to say if she'll be a "legend" because there are a lot of factors that go into making an artist into what the public considers legendary. As successful as Adele is, she still has not had her pop culture moment that will solidify her status in the public consciousness. Celine Dion was massively successful before My Heart Will Go On. Then she became CELINE DION, THE BEST SINGER...IN ZEE WORLD. Adele needs a pop culture moment that makes her so massively ubiquitous that she transcends her role as pop singer and becomes a pop culture icon.

I think one can argue that Adele is bigger at her peak than Mariah was in hers. I don't remember Mariah being a pop culture phenomenon. She was a chart phenomenon with a powerful unique voice. I also don't remember Celine ever being considered "The BEST SINGER... IN ZEE WORLD" even after "My Heart Will Go On." I do remember most critics and others saying that MHWGO was like listening to nails scratching on a chalkboard. People like to rewrite history with these vets.

As far as ubiquity, Adele is definitely massively ubiquitous, or at least her music is. She is one of the few artists who have reached various demographics without much attempt, so I don't get this argument that she only reaches old white women. That's just ridiculous. You cannot sell albums, breaking digital & streaming records and be a widely-known name with just that demographic. Adele has the biggest cross-genre appeal of any of her peers. If Adele keeps bringing ubiquitous hits and continues with this industry praise, I don't see why anyone would doubt she will be a legend, at least compared to her counterparts. It's not like Celine Dion is all that praised or remembered outside of Titantic, and Mariah Carey is basically ignored and not given as much credit as say, Madonna or Whitney Houston.

People refuse to give today's artists credit for their contributions and tend to overrate some of these people who aren't really "legends."

[sundaymorningguy]

Dec 9, 2015 17:00:47 GMT -5 magik said:

Dec 4, 2015 19:13:13 GMT -5 sundaymorningguy said:

With all honesty, I think she is filling the void of a great AC artist/vocalist that so many soccer moms, Basic Betty's, and homogenized homos have been missing. I mean who else in the industry really captures that type of everybody market aside from Taylor Swift. She is great, but I don't think she has delivered a song that people will remember her for years to come at least not yet in my opinion.

I guess "Rolling in the Deep" and "Someone Like You' just don't exist.

Those are great songs, but they don't give me that that is the song/songs she will be known for vibe.

[magik]

Dec 9, 2015 17:38:09 GMT -5 sundaymorningguy said:

Dec 9, 2015 17:00:47 GMT -5 magik said:

I guess "Rolling in the Deep" and "Someone Like You' just don't exist.

Those are great songs, but they don't give me that that is the song/songs she will be known for vibe.

Those two songs basically made her what she is today. If those songs are remembered, then she will be, too. RITD and SLY have had strong catalog sales and recurrent airplay. Those songs will clearly live on at this point.

[Ling-Ling]

LMAO at people saying Adele hasn't had a defining pop culture moment. And LMAO at people saying Adele doesn't have any signature songs. The DENIAL. And this is coming from someone who thinks she is BEYOND overrated.

Adele having one huge era could have been a fluke. Artists that capture the zeitgeist come about once every decade or so and most of the time implode over a short period of time. Alanis Morrisette did it in the 90's. Norah Jones managed it in the 2000's. And you see what happened in both of those cases. The fact that Adele has managed to come back so strong with (so far) no diminished returns and no fatigue is incredible. And yes, her success and sales match those of the legends, hell, she's breaking the legends records, how is that even a question?

Now, Adele going down as a legend is a completely different story. She hasn't been around nearly long enough to make that determination. But she at the very least has made an incredible dent in music history.

[sundaymorningguy]

Dec 9, 2015 17:48:47 GMT -5 magik said:

Dec 9, 2015 17:38:09 GMT -5 sundaymorningguy said:

Those are great songs, but they don't give me that that is the song/songs she will be known for vibe.

Those two songs basically made her what she is today. If those songs are remembered, then she will be, too. RITD and SLY have had strong catalog sales and recurrent airplay. Those songs will clearly live on at this point.

Yes, those songs brought her into the scene, but there are plenty of songs that introduced an artist to the mainstream, but the singer went on to deliver better and more memorable work. Just because you feel she will be known for those songs, doesn't make my notion that I feel she hasn't delivered her defining song yet invalid.

[magik]

I just don't get HOW you come to the conclusion she DOESN'T have a defining song. "Rolling in the Deep" and "Someone Like You" ARE defining songs, whether it's career or generational, and unless you come up with some valid reasons as to why they are not, I will continue with MY belief.

[irice22]

Dec 9, 2015 14:59:55 GMT -5 YourFaveIsAFlop said:

Adele has sold a lot of records. She hasn't become a cultural icon the way Elvis or MJ or Celine Dion or Whitney Houston have.

Once ten more years pass, you'll see.

[YourFaveIsAFlop]

I can't event at somebody not knowing the Celine SNL sketch and then trying to lecture about why it's not true...

[magik]

Plenty of artists have had SNL sketches, including Adele herself. So, no. I'm not sure where you're going with this.

[SPRΞΞ]

No, she hasn't had that pop culture moment like Michael Jackson doing the moonwalk, or Madonna rolling around stage in a wedding dress, or Elvis grabbing his crotch, or Whitney's performance in The Bodyguard. Adele doesn't have anything like that yet. I guess when I think of pop culture moments I think of visual things, good or bad. Britney's shaved head and her bashing that car is a pop culture moment.

Off topic slightly, but Taylor Swift hasn't had any either.

[Linnethia Monique]

It's a yes and no situation. Yes it is showing that she is clearly on her way to that path because her current success is comparable to Whitney, Mariah, Madonna, Michael Jackson, Janet, etc but in a more compact timeline. The no part is that she needs the longevity portion to further cement the first part. "Hello" with it's numerous memes, landing impact, and turning an everyday phrase into another anomaly just like Lionel Richie did 30 plus years ago shows her power on the general public. The overall ADELE effect on the industry will be revered for future years to come. Out of everybody currently on the scene she has the most potential to reach that zenith.

[when the pawn...]

I agree that she hasn't done something to match the impact of Michael, Madonna or Elvis. That is who I was considering (plus Beatles, etc.) when I said that she is not among the legends.

But when you narrow the field to Whitney and definitely Mariah and Celine, Adele is already there. Her 2011-2012 reign was unbelievable - the Brits/VMA/Grammy performanes were the performances of each of those ceremonies, she tripled her next best competitors in sales, spawned 3 MASSIVE hits, 2 of which are absolutely defining singles from any angle. She also won 8 Grammys, an Oscar and a Golden Globe.

And now "Hello" has been another "moment" - SNL, Ellen, Lionel Richie, The Muppets, endless memes and YouTube covers, record-breaking sales.

[Peterawr]

I can't remember the last time someone had such universal praise as Adele across so many different demographics.

I can mention her to my boyfriend, to my friends, my professors, parents, grandparents, and everyone just says "oh she's such an amazing singer"

She's just universal.

Adele is the universe.

[Kris]

She's been around six years. Legends are around for decades. When I think legend I think performances and she doesn't do that. But if she's around for maybe another decade, she might just get there.