19 is the debut studio album by British singer Adele.

It was first released on 2

8 January 2008, through XL Recordings. Following Adele's graduation from the BRI
T School for Performing Arts & Technology in May 2006, she began publishing song
s and recorded a three-song demo for a class project and gave it to a friend. Th
e friend posted the demo on Myspace, where it became very successful and led to
interest from XL Recordings. This led to Adele signing a recording contract with
the label and providing vocals for Jack Peate, during this session for Peate's so
ng she met producer Jim Abbiss, who would go on to produce the majority of her d
ebut album.
Adele wrote most of the album's material solely, but did work with a select few
writers and producers including Jim Abbiss, Eg White and Sacha Skarbek. Their co
llaborations created a blue-eyed soul album with lyrics describing heartbreak an
d relationship.[2] Upon release, 19 received generally positive reviews from cri
tics, who praised the singer's vocals and noted her as having the "potential to
become among the most respected and inspiring international artists of her gener
ation."[3] 19 also won and was nominated for numerous accolades including a Merc
ury Prize, and the Grammy Award for Best New Artist.[4] The second single, "Chas
ing Pavements", also won the Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance
at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards.[4]
Four singles were released from the album, with "Chasing Pavements" and "Make Yo
u Feel My Love" reaching the top ten on the UK Singles Chart and the former beco
ming Adele's first Billboard Hot 100 entry. 19 debuted at number one on the UK c
harts during its release,[5] and was certified seven times platinum by the Briti
sh Phonographic Industry (BPI) with sales of over 2 million copies.[6] Peaking a
t number four on the US Billboard 200 in 2012, the album has also sold over 3 mi
llion copies in the United States[7] and an estimated 7 million copies worldwide
.[8]