Rumour Has It

This bluesy stomp is part of Adele's second album, titled 21. She penned the song with Beyoncé/Leona Lewis songwriter Ryan Tedder.

The song sounds like it could be about the famous folks who show up in the tabloids, but it's not. Adele says the inspiration was a lot closer to home. After being away from home for about 18 months, she returned to the UK and reconnected with her old friends, meeting up for lunch and going out at night. She was shocked when her friends asked her about rumors that they had heard about Adele. "My own friends were gossiping about me and believing stuff that they'd hear," she said. "I was mortified, really. I had to set the record straight with my own girlfriends who know and love me."

Ryan Tedder was in the middle of touring his band OneRepublic's second album Waking Up when the opportunity came up to write with the British songstress. He recalled to Billboard magazine: "I blocked off a week and said, 'I have to work with Adele.' Our management was like, 'She's good, but what's the big deal?' I thought she was the best singer in the world, so I wanted to halt everything to make sure there was time to work with her."