Alanis morissette

Alanis morissette Adele's ex-boyfriend may not be aware of it, but he's joined an illustrious club of people whowere inadvertent inspirations for artEminem's Kim, the comedian who dumped Alanis Morissette and heard about it on "You Oughta Know," the mystery man behind Carly Simon's "You're So Vain," Patti Boyd Harrison (Eric Clapton's tortured "Layla") and an assortment of Taylor Swift exes — they're all memberThe fingerprints of Adele's former flame are all over her sophomore disc "21," from "Rolling in the Deep," the soulful kiss-off that opens the disc, to the more reflective "Someone Like You" that ends it. The disc is released in the U.S. this week. He may not even know his status.I have no idea if he's heard the record, or is kind of clever enough to link it, to think it's him," says Adele,.

ho discreetly keeps his name private. "I'm not saying he's dim. It's just that toward the end I don't think he felt like I loved him enough to write a record about hi"But I did.Given how second albums are often problematic for artists, it helps to have something to write about. The London-born Adele Laurie Blue Adkins, who performs Monday night at the Royal Oak Music Theatre, won best female pop vocal and best new artist at the 2009 Grammys and sold more than 2 million copies of "19." The 2008 debut was named for her age when she wrote the album's songs. Same thing for its follow-up. Her British record company discovered her after a friend posted some of her songs online. She wanted to sing, but was reluctant to dream too big, and thought XL Recordings wanted to hire her as a talent scout when instead their executives were seduced by her pipesI find it hard to say, 'Oh, I'm a singer.

because my singers are Etta James and Carole King and Roberta Flack, the all-time gurus, the gods of singing," she saysRyan Tedder, who co-wrote two songs on Adele's new disc, is a believer. He's still flabbergasted by watching her nail one of those songs, "Turning Tables," on the first take in the studio. "Rumour Has It" took two takeTedder, who has written or produced songs for Beyoncé, Kelly Clarkson and Leona Lewis, says Adele is "the single greatest female singer alive, periodAdele worked with several co-writers and two main producers on "21": Paul Epworth, a hip Brit who also produced Florence and the Machine, and Rick Rubin, an American record executive and producer renowned for getting back to basics with artists in the studiShe says she appreciated the different approaches, each part of her learning processI could have been in any era when I was hanging out with Rick," she says. "I could have been in the '40s or 2080 or something. He calmed me and made me focus that it's all about the music, all about the song, and it's not about the glitter that comes after it. That was the best and biggest lesson I've learned."

Alanis morissette