CELEBRITY CENTRAL OR TODAY IS ADELE

1988 BIOGRAPHY Baby Blues Adele Laurie Blue Adkins is born in the hardscrabble North London community of Tottenham to art student Penny Adkins and Welsh plumber Mark Evans. Her father chooses the middle name Blue for his baby girl because of his love of blues music. When her parents split in the '90s, Adele settles in South London's West Norwood neighborhood, where she develops an eclectic taste for music, from the Spice Girls to Slipknot and Ella Fitzgerald to Etta James

2002 School Ties Adele is accepted to the BRIT School for Performing Arts and Technology, a high school that has turned out musical superstars like Amy Winehouse, Leona Lewis and Jessie J. In 2006, she records three songs for a class project and sends them to a friend, who then uploads the tracks to MySpace. The songs become an Internet sensation and land her a deal with XL Records.

2008 Numbers Game Adele releases her debut album, 19, which boasts the soulful singles "Chasing Pavements" and "Hometown Glory." Rolling Stone raves that her voice is "a voluptuous, slightly parched alto that swooped and fluttered like a Dusty Springfield student trying to upstage her teacher, or at least update the rules."

2009 Twice as Nice At the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, the 20-year-old newcomer takes home the Grammy for best female pop vocal performance for her hit "Chasing Pavements" and the coveted best new artist trophy. "Thank you so much. I'm going to cry," she says during her acceptance speech.

2011 The Grand Follow-Up On the strength of her first No. 1 U.S. single, "Rolling in the Deep," Adele skips the sophomore slump with her follow-up album, 21. Adele writes most of the songs over an intense three-week period. "It took a breakup to get me going. When I'm happy, I don't have much to write about," she says. The CD becomes the best-selling album of 2011.

October 2011 Pitch Problems Damage to her vocal cords forces Adele to cancel the remainder of her tour as she undergoes throat surgery. "I have absolutely no choice but to recuperate properly and fully, or I risk damaging my voice forever," she says of taking a break from performing.

January 2012 Budding Love After receiving six Grammy nominations for 21, Adele, 23, graces the cover of PEOPLE and steps out with new love Simon Konecki, 36, whom she meets over the summer. "Everyone in our lives separately and together wish us nothing but the best, and vice versa," she writes of her new romance

February 12 2012 Trophy Girl Adele nails her first post-surgery performance at the Grammy Awards – and becomes the evening's big winner, collecting six awards. "It's been the most life-changing year," an emotional Adele says after picking up the night's biggest prize, album of the year.

2012 June 29 Great Expectations Adele, 24, announces she's expecting her first child with boyfriend Simon Konecki on her website. "I wanted you to hear the news direct from me, obviously we’re over the moon and very excited but please respect our privacy at this precious time. Yours always, Adele xx," the singer writes.

2012 October It's a Boy! After laying low to prepare for her baby's arrival, the singer and Konecki welcome their first child, a son. “We are all over the moon,” a family source confirms to PEOPLE. 2013

January 13 Winning Welcome Adele makes her first post-baby appearance at the Golden Globe Awards, where she also takes home the best song statuette for her rendition of "Skyfall," the James Bond theme. "Honestly I came for a night out – with my friend Ayda … I was not expecting this," she says in her acceptance speech. "Thank you so much for letting me be a part of your world for a night, it's amazing."

February 10 Another One for the Mantel The new mom's rendition of "Set Fire to the Rain (Live)" scores her the Grammy Award for best solo pop performance. "I just want to [send] big love to all the other girls and all us females doing this," she says, "because we work so hard, [and] we make it look so easy."

February 24 Golden Touch Bringing home her third award of the 2013 red carpet season, Adele becomes an Oscar winner after "Skyfall" is named Best Original Song. "This is amazing," she says from the stage, having also performed the winning James Bond theme earlier in the night. "And my man, I love you baby!"