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After Adele: is the diva leaving the building once and for all?


As the British singer announces ‘you won’t see me again for an incredibly long time’, it seems the era of larger-than-life, huge-voiced, huge-haired female singers may be ending

Photograph: Christopher Polk/Billboard/Getty ImagesWhile women remain a dominant pop force – with the likes of Charli xcx, Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan ruling the summer, not to mention Taylor Swift – hardly any of them exist in the tradition of, say, an Aretha Franklin, Barbra Streisand, Cher, Whitney Houston or Mariah Carey, as Adele does. Carey ditched her black dress balladeering in favour of blending pop and hip-hop in the late 90s, while Cher brought Auto-Tune to the masses on her career-changing 1998 hit Believe, and Beyoncé keeps audiences guessing with her genre-crossing albums. Vegas residencies, as well as and Cher’s forthcoming multi-volume tome prove the interest is still there, as does the hype around Dion’s comeback performance at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony, said Fairclough.

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