Adele is back home in London for her first ticketed concert in more than five years.
The Rumour Has It singer was overcome with emotion on Friday as she took the stage at the American Express presents British Summertime Hyde Park 2022 festival.
Her voice broke slightly as she opened with her 2015 chart-topping Hello, before the Tottenham-born singer stopped to tell fans she was “so happy to be here”.
Looking glam in pearl earrings and a figure-hugging black dress, the 34-year-old smiled, waved, danced and chatted as the sun shone on the first day of the festival, which celebrates the start of summer in the UK.
Under a glitter ball dangling from an industrial crane, Adele was supported at Hyde Park by an all-female bill including country star Kacey Musgraves, Simmer singer Mahalia and 2022 Brit Award nominee Self Esteem.
Gabrielle — the UK singer who topped the charts with Dreams nearly three decades ago — opened for Adele, getting the crowd ready for her set. The same acts will return on Saturday for the second-night of the weekend festival.
Adele's show-stopping performance delighted fans with a set list including the powerful Skyfall, All I ask and Make You Feel My Love. She turned her 2011 hit Someone Like You, into an acoustic delight, accompanied by a 60,000-strong chorus.
“London, I love you so much,” she told the crowd during her encore, before ending things with a rousing rendition of Love is a Game as love-heart themed fireworks lit up the UK's capital.
Adele returned to the music scene in November last year when she released her fourth studio album titled 30.
It was her first release in six years and reached No 1 around the world. It topped the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry's Global Album Sales Chart and its inaugural Global Vinyl Album Chart; it was also named global album of the year.
She was forced to cancel her last two shows at Wembley, London, in July 2017, after battling vocal chord damage. At the time, she said she was "devastated" to pull out.
Last week, Elton John kicked off the American Express presents BST Hyde Park music festival which runs until July 10. The Rolling Stones, Duran Duran and Pearl Jam are all on the billing.
