TIME is out with its annual list of the 100 Most Influential People of 2022, and Adele is among them.
The singer appears in the Icons category, along with Mary J. Blige, Issa Rae, Keanu Reeves and tennis star Rafael Nadal, among others. In an accompanying essay, Adele's pal James Corden writes that the star "puts emotions into words, describing them in a way we never could ourselves."
He adds, "She is raw, honest, and elegant all at the same time. It never feels like she sings to us. She sings for us. When I have sat and talked with Adele, often into the small hours of the morning, she’s felt like a friend from school, like someone I’ve known my whole life, so much so that I can almost forget her exquisite talents."
"But then I hear her singing in the kitchen, or belting at the top of her voice solely to make my children laugh, and I am immediately reminded: she is an artist, in the purest sense of the word," he continues.
Corden concludes, "In a time when people are trying to sell every facet of their being, on every device that surrounds us, here is someone who wants only to make extraordinary music and put it out into the world. To comfort us, to lift us up, and to laugh with us."
"I love Adele," he says. "The world needs her. We’ve all got to protect her as best we can."
Others on the list include Pete Davidson, Mila Kunis, Channing Tatum, Zendaya, Oprah Winfrey, Kris Jenner and President Joe Biden.
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