Adele Back On Stage—and Into the Record Books!

Grammy winner returns to the stage after taking a month off to soothe her ailing pipes

By Josh Grossberg Jul 08, 2011 7:10 PMTags
AdeleAdam Taylor/ABC

Her voice nearly back at full strength, Adele is chasing tour dates.

After recovering from a severe bout of laryngitis that sidelined her for nearly a month and postponed her North American trek, the British hitmaker resumed performing Thursday night with a headlining appearance at London's iTunes Festival.

And that's not even the best news she got this week...

Word came today that Adele's sophomore effort, 21, just became the fastest-selling digital album to surpass 1 million units Stateside.

The record, which dropped a scant four months ago, has alredy sold 2.5 million copies in the U.S., 9 million globally and spent a whopping 10 weeks at the top of the Billboard charts before being bumped out by Lady Gaga's Born This Way. Adele's latest single, "Rolling in the Deep," got a featured slot on Glee and was recently certified quadruple platinum for digital sales topping 4 million tracks.

Not bad for a 23-year-old from South London who only three years ago was a virtual unknown.

At Thursday night's gig, Adele crooned a slew of hits including "Chasing Pavements" and scorching renditions of Bonnie Raitt's "I Can't Make You Love Me" and The Cure's "Love Song."

The "Someone Like You" singer also made light of her illness, telling the audience she had temporarily stopped boozing to rest her pipes, but adding she'd "rather be drinking red wine."

Adele will now hit the road in support of 21 with a newly revised tour itinerary that will see her play six additional cities including Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Durham (N.C.), Orlando, Miami and Spring (Texas).

The first round of rescheduled dates will kick off in Vancouver on Aug. 9. The jaunt will make stops mostly along the West Coast before ending in St. Paul, Minn., on Aug. 24. It will then resume on Oct. 7 in Atlantic City and swing through the South before wrapping up in Grand Prairie, Texas, on Oct. 21. (The full schedule is on her website.)

Tickets for the original concerts will be honored at the new shows.