Was frightened to return to music: Adele

“I was scared. It got so out of control, the last album. I was a bit frightened for a while to step back into it… I didn’t think I had it in me to write another record.

“I didn’t know if I should. Because of how successful ’21’ was, I thought, ‘Maybe everyone’s happy with that being the last thing from me. Maybe I should bow out on a high.’,” Adele said.

The singer, who has a three-year-old son, Angelo, with partner Simon Konecki, eventually realised she needed to write songs just for her own sake.

“As time went on, I realised I had no choice. I have to write more music for myself, and there’s nothing else I want to do.”