Hollywood Popular Artists

May 16th 2012, 14:53

Adele's history-making success has reinvigorated the music industry in the best way possible. Sales of her acclaimed 21 helped the industry to its first year-over-year sales increase since 2004 and she's continued her chart dominance throughout 2012. The reception the acclaimed album has received is proof that people are still very much interested in powerful vocalists who are also the driving creative force behind their own music.

The last time we can remember an album receiving this kind of enormous and universal reception from both critics and music lovers was Amy Winehouse's modern classic Back to Black in 2006. It seems the late singer was as aware of that fact as anyone else … and it made her quite nervous.

At least according to Mark Ronson, a long-time Winehouse confidant and the producer behind Back to Black. In a new interview with the Village Voice, Ronson reveals that Adele's success made Winehouse feel "upset, competitive [and] restless," though she was herself a fan of the "Rolling in the Deep" belter.

Asked if he was planning to work with Winehouse again before her death in late-July of last year, Ronson admitted they had been talking about it, but the beehived British soul singer was nervous and tense about returning to the studio with him and speculated that Adele's success might have had something to do with it.

"Yes. We spent a little time together and talked about it. But, what little time we had, well, it was tense. She was in a bad state, God knows why," Ronson told the Voice. "I think that the Adele thing had Amy freaked out. She liked her, but Adele's success was making Amy feel upset, competitive, restless. Anyway, we lost touch briefly. And before she and I could really start the process of beginning a new album, it was too late."

We can understand where Amy was coming from – their styles certainly had some overlap and any singer trying to get some shine on the charts would be a fool to not be made nervous by Adele's current ubiquity – but we think that there is more than enough room for both. What we wouldn't give to have had these two talented and unique voices dominating the charts at the same time and showing so many lesser talents how it's done.

Read on to check out Adele and Amy taking the same stage (albeit separately) with Ronson during a show-stopping medley performance of "God Put a Smile Upon Your Face," "Stop Me" and "Valerie" at the 2008 Brit Awards.

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