“Well I never! Happy 10 years old friend!” the singer, 32, wrote via Instagram on Sunday, January 24. “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.”

Adele released 21 on January 24, 2011, in her native U.K. It came out in the U.S. on February 22, 2011.

The follow-up to 2008’s 19 remains the bestselling album of the 21st century, with more than 31 million sales worldwide. It includes the singles “Rolling in the Deep,” “Someone Like You,” “Set Fire to the Rain,” “Rumour Has It” and “Turning Tables.” 21 won six Grammy Awards in 2012, including Album of the Year, and ranks among Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

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Adele wrote 21 after the end of an 18-month relationship. She never publicly confirmed the identity of the ex-boyfriend who inspired the album’s heartbreaking songs, though she has said that he was 10 years older than her.

“You know, he was amazing,” she said in her March 2012 Vogue cover story. “He was great. But it was never going to work. And for ages I was like, ‘As if he deserves any f–king kudos for inspiring my record.’ But now, after some time, it only seems right that the person who so far has had the biggest impact on me — has now changed my life for f–king ever with this album — deserves a little credit. I can do things that I never dreamed I’d be able to do. If I hadn’t met him, I think I’d still be that little girl I was when I was 18.”

The “Hello” songstress went on to find love with businessman Simon Konecki. They welcomed son Angelo, now 8, in October 2012 and quietly married in May 2018. Adele announced her split from Konecki, 46, in April 2019 and filed for divorce that September. Us Weekly broke the news earlier this month that the estranged couple reached a confidential agreement on their divorce settlement, bringing them one step closer to becoming legally single again.

Adele, who was recently linked to British rapper Skepta, has not released an album since 25, which dropped in November 2015. She has repeatedly teased that her highly anticipated fourth record is in the works, but she is still putting the finishing touches on it.

“My album’s not finished,” she confirmed while hosting Saturday Night Live in October 2020 after viewers wondered why she was not a musical guest.

Adele’s friend Alan Carr told Grazia UK earlier this month that he has “heard some tracks” from the forthcoming album, calling them “so amazing.”

This story originally appeared on: US Magazine - Author:Nicholas Hautman