On '30,' Adele Samples Voicemail She Left During Anxiety Attack

london, england february 24 editorial use only adele attends the brit awards 2016 at the o2 arena on february 24, 2016 in london, england photo by mike marslandwireimage

(Image credit: Mike Marsland)

published 20 October 2021

Adele may be a discreet celebrity, but when she speaks out (opens in new tab) about something, she doesn't half do it. Appearing on Australian radio show Carrie & Tommy, the singer explained that she had an anxiety attack amid her divorce from Simon Konecki, and that this scary experience has been immortalized for the world to hear: in one of the songs off her upcoming album, 30.

"It's in the song about my son, it's at the end, in the outro," she said (via the Daily Mail (opens in new tab)). "I was really frightened. I was having an anxiety attack and I called my best friend to try to talk to her to calm me down but she didn't bloody answer. It shines some light on... I'm talking about my son in the rest of the song, and once I put him to bed I can stop putting on that brave face."

Creating 30 helped Adele make sense of everything that was going on, and she even went as far as to say she's "never felt more peaceful (opens in new tab)" in her official Instagram announcement for the album.

"I was certainly nowhere near where I'd hoped to be when I first started nearly 3 years ago," she wrote. "Quite the opposite actually. I rely on routine and consistency to feel safe. I always have. And yet there I was knowingly - willingly even, throwing myself into a maze of absolute mess and inner turmoil!

"I've learned a lot of blistering home truths about myself along the way. I've shed many layers but also wrapped myself in new ones. Discovered genuinely useful and wholesome mentalities to lead with, and I feel like I've finally found my feeling again. I'd go as far as to say that I've never felt more peaceful in my life."

Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Bustle and Shape. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.