Adele belted her heart out (and broke ours) during a six-minute video of her singing “To Be Loved,” which she released Wednesday (Nov. 17) on her socials.
The British pop superstar gave fans their first proper listen to the song before it officially arrives Friday, along with the rest of her fourth studio album 30. During her One Night Only television special that aired Sunday on CBS, Adele performed four songs from the album: her current Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hit “Easy on Me,” along with the premieres of “I Drink Wine,” “Hold On” and “Love Is a Game.” In the interview portion of the primetime special with Oprah Winfrey, Adele revealed that she had played “To Be Loved” and other tracks from her forthcoming LP to her estranged father before he died in the spring.
“My main goal in life is to be loved in love. And so I wanted to play it to my dad being like, ‘You’re the reason I haven’t done that yet,’” the singer told Winfrey about the tearful listening session. “He was the reason I haven’t fully accessed what it is to be in a loving relationship with somebody.”
Now, Adele is finally playing the ballad for fans in its full glory from her living room, and it might be too much for their emotions (and her phone speakers) to handle. “To be loved and love at the highest count/ Means to lose all the things I can’t live without,” she sings from her couch while backed by a piano that remains out of view. “Let it be known that I will choose to lose/ It’s a sacrifice, but I can’t live a lie/ Let it be known, let it be known that I tried.”
Watch her casually soul-crushing performance of “To Be Loved” below.
To Be Loved pic.twitter.com/r16x90FbAU
— Adele (@Adele) November 17, 2021