From 19 to 30: A look back at Adele's career so far

It's the moment Adele fans have been waiting for. After a six-year hiatus, the British singer-songwriter released her highly anticipated fourth studio album, 30, on Friday.

Best known for songs like Hello and Rolling In the Deep, Adele has collected 15 Grammy Awards, and her 2015 album, 25, is estimated to have sold more than 22 millions copies worldwide. Critics say her commercial success will continue with 30, with Rolling Stone calling it "her toughest, most powerful album yet."

CBC News looks back on Adele's career leading up to the release of her new album. 

In 2008, Adele released her debut album 19, which features songs like Chasing Pavements and Cold Shoulder. The album won her the first-ever BRIT Awards Critics' Choice the same year. 

In a 2008 interview with U.K. soul writer Pete Lewis, the singer-songwriter said the album represented her life when she wrote it at age 19. "I just kinda remember becoming a bit of a woman during that time," Adele said. "And I think that is definitely documented in the songs."

These types of thematic albums allow artists like Adele to form personal connections with their audiences, says Brian Fauteux, an associate professor of popular music and media studies at the University of Alberta in Edmonton.

"There's something about the way her songwriting and singing come together to tap into these universal feelings, emotions and experiences," said Fauteux.

"It allows fans to follow along with her career. She's aging at the same time as [her] fan base."

19 also won Adele Grammys for best new artist and best female pop vocal performance in 2009. She ended her first world tour, An Evening with Adele, later that year.

Adele's second album, 21, was released in 2011 and is estimated to have sold nearly 31 million copies worldwide, becoming the best-selling album of the 21st century in the United Kingdom. 

The same year, Adele went on her second tour and met her now ex-husband, British charity entrepreneur Simon Konecki.

The songstress collected more Grammy hardware in 2012, winning all six of the categories in which she was nominated, making her the second female artist to win that many awards in one night. (Following Beyoncé.) After her Grammy success, she revealed her plans to take a break from music. Her son, Angelo, was born later that year.

A major part of Adele's appeal, according to Canadian radio broadcaster and music writer Alan Cross, is that she comes across as "very, very human."

"She wasn't this perfect physical specimen who seemed to have it all," said Cross. "And the things that she's singing about really resonated with individual people. She was almost an everywoman."