Adele showing up to Pieces in New York City alongside fellow Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence is something that took me (and many others) by surprise.
Her attitude inside the legendary gay bar read as a cool, calm and collected person who just wanted to enjoy a night out as opposed to her evoking any sort of diva-like attitude. Which, let’s keep it real, would’ve been fine as well.
I feel as if we have been sleeping on the fact that Adele really is a modern gay icon. Many of us have own our idols in this category: Cher, Britney Spears,Madonna, etc. But, with the exception of Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande, i’ts hard to really think of any other female singers who have had this much of a profound effect on our community that have risen to stardom over the past decade.
The 30-year-old singer barely made any rumbles in the United States eleven years ago after her album 19 was released. It did fairly well, earned her a ton of accolades and somewhat made her a household name domestically. Things changed on a 180 degree level, however, when her sophomoric effort 21 came out. That piece of work cemented her as a legend in the making.
In the years since she has proudly voiced her support for the LGBTQ community in many ways. She told Time magazine in 2015 that she couldn’t wait to find out who her young son Angelo’s “girlfriend or his boyfriend is going to be”, adding: “Whatever my kid wants to do or be I will always support him no matter what.” She gave birth to him three years earlier on October 19, 2012.
She’s performed at several LGBTQ-related events, notably Pride London in 2011. Adele also dedicated her show to the victims of the Pulse nightclub massacre in Antwerp, Belgium on July 12, 2016. “The LGBTQ community they’re like my soul mates since I was really young, so I’m very moved by it,” she emotionally said on stage that night.
Adele also became an ordained minister at her friend Alan Carr’s wedding to his partner Paul Drayton in 2018. I mean, how freaking awesome would it be to have ADELE marrying you? Taylor Swift did something like this recently when she was a surprise guest at a gay couple’s engagement ceremony. Here’s hoping more female singers follow suit.
I think what makes Adele a gay icon, and ultimately a universally beloved individual, is that she really is just a normal person who just happens to have an incredible talent. She doesn’t take herself too seriously, calls herself a “stay at home mom” during her rare public outings and makes us laugh hysterically with every interview she does.
What I find the most amazing about her is that she’s in control of her career. For someone to have an album like 21 and then decide to stay out of the limelight for a couple of years to raise her child while still selling millions of records and winning Oscars and stuff is purely incredible. Then she came back four years later with 25, snatched our wigs off, and once again returned shortly after to being a regular human being.
It’s refreshing in an age where The Kardashians and other reality stars are doing everything to stay in the spotlight that we have someone like Adele who is just happy to show off her talent while being authentically herself. So to me she’s more than just a gay icon, she’s one of us.
This is the opinion of one contributing writer and not that of Instinct Magazine or other Contributing Writers.