Adele fans will have to wait longer for her anticipated new album.
The singer confirmed the delay on her Instagram account last Saturday, stating the planned September release has been pushed back amid the pandemic.
The bad news came from the star herself when responding to a fan who asked if her post, which was a throwback image of Adele's 2016 Glastonbury festival performance, was in fact a teaser image for the new album.
“Of course it's not. Corona ain't over,” she replied. “I'm quarantining. Wear a mask and be patient.”
Adele's manager, Jonathan Dickins, was equally bullish about he album's delay. "It isn't coming in September," he told Newsweek earlier this month. "It will be ready when it's ready."
Adele isn't the first major artist to abandon their album release plans.
With musicians' fortunes closely linked to live performances, a new album also means a chance to embark on a world tour. However, with arenas still shuttered around the world amid the pandemic, a host of major artists have decided to withhold new releases until they are allowed to plug in and play to a live audience once again.
Here are other acts who have also changed course on new projects.
Willie Nelson
Even this legendary musical outlaw knows he is outgunned when it comes to Covid-19. Hence Willie Nelson's decision to release his 70th album, First Rose of Spring, a month and a half later than originally planned, on Friday, July 3.
Alanis Morissette
Alanis Morissette fans – who have been waiting eight years for new tunes from the Canadian singer – have to bide their time some more, with the album, Such Pretty Forks in the Road, now scheduled to be released on Friday, July 31, pushed back from its initial Friday, May 1, release date.
Elissa
Fans of the Lebanese singer know they have to wait, with Elissa having confirmed back in April that the recording process was delayed because of nationwide restrictions in Lebanon. That said, the yet-to-be-titled album is on the way and should be released sometime this year.
Elissa confirmed the good news on Twitter with a celebratory photo and post. “We can finally say that there will be something positive in 2020,” she said.
As a treat for fans, Elissa released the new single, Hanghani Kaman Wi Kaman, with an accompanying isolation-inspired video presented in the style of a video conference.
Bon Jovi
Will the title remain Bon Jovi 20/20 once the album is out? The veteran rock group had an anthemic album planned for May, with a world stadium tour in the works, before the virus struck. Now the album is delayed and Bon Jovi are using the extra time to craft new tunes. In an online performance in April, the band premiered the reflective new song Do What You Can, which was inspired by present day challenges. There is no word, yet, on whether or not the song will appear on the new record.
The Chicks
It will be interesting to see how the country music stars proceed with their new album, Gaslighter.
Not only has the coronavirus forced the group to indefinitely postpone the record from its original April release date, but the racially charged US protests triggered by the death of George Floyd caused the group to change their name from The Dixie Chicks to The Chicks.
Announcing their new moniker on Thursday, June 25, the band said they decided to drop Dixie because of its reference to the American Mason–Dixon demarcation line, which was used to separate the free and slave-owning southern states.
Alicia Keys
With her planned world tour also not taking place this year, Alicia Keys has withheld her new album. It's been a rather agonising wait for fans as the pandemic has caused the record, titled Alicia, to be pushed back twice from its March 20 and May 15 release dates. There is currently no official word on when Keys' seventh album, home to singles Show Me Love and Underdog, will be out. "Everyone's health and safety is the #1 priority," she told fans in a tweet back in March. "Thank you for your deep love, I'll let u know about new dates soon."
Sam Smith
The British crooner not only indefinitely pushed back the release of his new album, which should have been out on May 1, but he will also change its original title, To Die For. "I have done a lot of thinking the last few weeks and feel that the title of my album and imminent release doesn't feel right," he said on Twitter. "So I have come to the decision to continue working on the album and make some important changes and additions."
Miley Cyrus
The pop singer promised an album of festival tunes. However, with no festivals to play them at for the foreseeable future, Cyrus has decided to keep the album, titled She is Miley Cyrus, to herself a little while longer. Fans have been patiently waiting for it for nearly a year. "I kind of finished my record and I was ready to go to all these festivals," she told The Wall Street Journal in May. "But it's hard to feel appropriate releasing music at this time."
