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America's Got Talent/Youtube

Bet you've never heard Adele like that before

The ultra catchy, outrageously flamboyant, and shamelessly fun sounds of 80s hair metal might have just made a comeback, all thanks to a rock band hailing from India.

The group, called Girish and the Chronicles, recently auditioned for America’s Got Talent with an explosive rock-n-roll covers of Adele’s “Set Fire to the Rain,” which basically set a proverbial fire to the stage with crazy guitar riffs, insane vocals, and yes, totally bodacious hair-dos.

Girish Pradhan, the lead singer, barely got two (incredibly impressive) notes outs before audience members popped out their seats and started jamming along.

Watch:

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

Down in the comments, listeners were floored not only by the band’s sheer level of talent, but at the cool cross cultural-ness of it all.

“They came for an audition and gave us a concert.”

“Authentic 80's style hard rock coming from unexpected places!”

“Bringing 80s rock back with a bang! I never thought I’d hear a rock version of an Adele song, but it was fabulous! I hope these guys get the recognition they deserve.”

“You guys are even more solid and powerful than most American bands these days. You've brought back the rock spirit. Wow!"

“As an American i can say he's better than most bands out here. Who knew the American 80’s rock would be back with a vengeance, from India.”

Even judge Howie Mandel noted, "You come from the other side of the globe and do something that is so traditionally American...it was so beautiful."

"You can’t fake the reaction behind us. What we just felt behind us, [from] the audience, was real," added Simon Cowell, just before commending Girish Pradhan by saying, "Your voice is really, really good, by the way."

The band, which has been together for 16 years, previously opened for Guns N’ Roses during their Abu Dhabi show, in addition to opening for Hoobastank, Poets of the Fall, Destruction, Tessarac, and Chris Adler.

But still, they “had been dreaming of performing in America ever since we got introduced to rock-n-roll.” According to Louder Sound, the band shared that, "We had a lot of struggles, but we were also living our lives to the fullest. More than anything, we were a group of four guys without a care in the world, who just wanted to get on stage and rock."

If that’s not the absolute essence of rock, we don’t know what is.

Stay up-to-date with all things Girish and the Chronicles on their Instagram page

Pop Culture

Adele moved to tears after a man in the crowd holds up a photo of his late wife

"I see these little pockets of people's lives when I walk through, and it's so beautiful."

@adeleaccess/TikTok

"This is for you, sir, who's showing me a photo of his wife on his phone.”

Adele is an artist who regularly interacts with her fans during concerts. But one particular exchange left the singer in tears.

During one of her “Weekends with Adele” shows at Caesar's Palace in Vegas, the British pop icon began walking through the crowd singing “When We Were Young” when she noticed a man holding up his phone to show a picture of his wife.

Back on stage to sing “Someone Like You,” Adele then said, "This is for you, sir, who's showing me a photo of his wife on his phone,” while smiling.

Only a few moments later, Adele realized there was an additional layer to the man’s story.


After the song ended, Adele took a moment to describe to the crowd what just happened. "When I walk through the crowd," she said, taking a big breath to hold back tears, "I wish you could see what I could see."

She continued, "I know I talk to a few people every night, but then I just see little stories of people happening. There was a man. He's just there—can you see him holding his phone up?"

Tearing up, the “Hello” singer explained, "I think that's his wife on his phone, and I don't think she's here, and it just really moved me."

@adeleaccess A very special moment from Adele’s concert this past Friday ♥️ #adele #weekendswithadele #adelevegas #adelelive #someonelikeyou #whenwewereyoung ♬ Someone Like You - Adele

"It looks like you're here on your own, and I'm so sorry," she told the man. "I'm so sorry for your loss, and I'm so sorry I didn't realize what you were showing me until I was already over there. I see these little pockets of people's lives when I walk through, and it's so beautiful."

People who watched the video noticed that the man had held up his wife’s picture while holding his heart. One person wrote, “crying bc he looked so content even if Adele didn’t notice, like he was happy knowing his wife would’ve loved just seeing what he’s seeing.”

It goes to show not only what a big heart Adele has, but the inherent empathy humans have for one another. Complete strangers can create intimate bonds because, to some extent, we all share an experience of love and loss. It’s a painful part of life, but arguably one that makes life so rewarding.

@elenisabracos on TikTok

Look, it’s a sad situation for anyone to hear that Adele will not be gracing the stage any time soon. The beloved singer woefully announced on Instagram last Friday (Jan 21) that her planned residency in Las Vegas “wasn’t ready” due to coronavirus. Half of her crew had been infected, making it “impossible to finish the show.”

But for one fan in particular, who has tried—and failed miserably—to catch Adele live on three separate occasions, the news hit particularly hard. Luckily, her sense of humor proves that any tragedy can turn into comedy gold.

This story, with all its hilarious twists and turns, is quite the delightful saga. And though it doesn’t erase all the gutting disappointments left from pandemic cancellations, it does serve as wholesome entertainment.


Eleni Sabracos (@elenisabracos) shared her doomed journey on TikTok, which began in 2016. 

@elenisabracos IM NOT MAD AT #ADELE I JUST WANT TO GIVE HER THESE SHIRTS AND DRINK WHISPERING ANGEL TOGETHER #storytime #ellenshow ♬ original sound - Eleni

Sabracos purchased tickets to see Adele at Madison Square Garden. Fake tickets, it turns out.

“Nobody felt bad for me because I bought them off Craigslist so that was my own doing,” Sabracos declared sarcastically.

Attempt #2: Sabracos bought tickets (legitimately this time) to see Adele in concert at Wembley Stadium in London the next summer. Got a confirmation number and everything.

Deciding to raise the stakes, she even upgraded to the very VIP “golden circle” seat, which would, theoretically, have Sabracos so up close and personal with Adele she’d probably know what perfume she was wearing.

The impassioned “I WAS IN THE GOLDEN CIRCLE!” gets me every time.

That should make up for the previous blunder, right? Wrong.

Just one day before the concert, Adele canceled the show “on medical advice” after damaging her vocal cords. To be fair, Adele did not take this lightly either, and was “devastated” to let her fans down.

Unfortunately, Sabracos had already crossed the pond to see her.

“Mind you I risked my life to be there,” Sabracos exclaimed, “on this cardboard airplane called WOW airlines.” She then pointed to a headline showing that the carrier company had since been discontinued. Yikes.

“The only thing wow about it was that it was surprising the airplane could fly!” This girl is a natural comedienne.

One last twist of the proverbial knife: Deciding to give herself a comfort meal, Sabracos requested an uber driver to take her to a nearby restaurant. That driver’s name, eerily enough, was Adeel. Will this pain never end?!

At this point, Sabracos had become a viral sensation, even making a guest appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."

She had T-shirts printed, which read “I love Adele like Adele loves Beyonce," and everything.

Cut to 2021, when Sabracos’ brother gave her tickets to Adele’s Vegas show. Third time was certainly not the charm in this case.

adele concert

@elenisabracos's custom-made (and seemingly cursed) t-shirts

TikTok

Already in her hotel room in Las Vegas, Sabracos yells at the top of her lungs “WHYYYYY?” like a thwarted cartoon villain on hearing the news. And then she whispers in a tiny voice, ”I still brought the shirts.”

“Adele is part of the most elaborate April Fools prank ever,” one person commented. And hey, he might be onto something.

This story does have a happy ending though.

@elenisabracos

THIS IS JUST THE BEGINNING LADIES AND GENTS

♬ original sound - Eleni

In a follow-up video, Sabracos did in fact get to FaceTime with the British pop queen. And it sounds like there will be a meet-and-greet in the future, complete with wine and shirt giving.

Beware, well-deserved shrieks of excitement ensue.

Though Sabracos has yet to be successful in her original mission to see Adele live, this series of unfortunate events led to having one truly unique fan experience.

You know what they say, it’s about the journey, not the destination.

Quentin Brunson proposed to his girlfriend Ashleigh Mann with the help of Adele and friends.

Last night, Adele's first live concert in four years aired on CBS, and it was a night to remember for more reasons than that.

Held at the beautiful Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, the concert was a star-studded event with gorgeous views of the city. Hearing and seeing Adele sing in a stunning black evening gown while the sun set behind her felt almost indulgent in its perfection, but the night was made even more special with a surprise proposal Adele helped orchestrate.

After Adele told the audience to be "really bloody quiet" and had the lights turned down, Quentin Brunson led his girlfriend, Ashleigh Mann, to the front of the stage. She was wearing noise-canceling headphones and a blindfold and had no idea where she was. When she took them off, she found Quentin down on one knee. She could see and hear the crowd, but it wasn't until after Quentin went through his tearful proposal that Ashleigh found out where she was and who she was with.

Watch:


Can you even imagine? "What is happening? Where am I? OMG, I'm getting engaged! Oh, Adele—HELLO! What? I'm on you're 'One Night Only' special that millions of people around the world are going to be watching on television? Take a seat in the front row, you say? Right here between Lizzo and Melissa McCarthy? UM, OKAY. Oh, you're singing to me now. Am I dreaming?"

How does one even take in such an experience? It was all so beautiful and clever and surprisingly real. Ashleigh's "Oh my god, I've been your girlfriend for so long" and her "In real life?" during the proposal and her simple, "Yeah" that sealed the deal were so dang cute. But her face when she saw Adele was absolutely priceless. And then Adele's cackle—AH HA!

The performance of "To Make You Feel My Love," just iced the cake. So, so sweet. We're all wiping our eyes with you, Melissa McCarthy.

Quentin and Ashleigh were interviewed by Gayle King on CBS This Morning and shared how the proposal came to be:

Ashleigh said she thought they were going to go on a hayride because they had been talking about going to a pumpkin patch. Ha.

Quentin himself didn't even know the surprise proposal opportunity was going to involve Adele herself until a couple of days before it happened. And the couple has had to keep the whole thing a secret since the filming—even from their friends and family—which had to have been torture.

What a fun and memorable night. Even people who aren't fans of public proposals gave props to the surprise. Any proposal that involves Adele singing directly to you in person is pretty much impossible to criticize and impossible to top.

Congratulations to the happy couple!