Following Adele's graduation from the BRIT School in April 2006, she began publishing songs and recorded a three-song demo for a class project and gave it to a friend.

This led to Adele signing a recording contract at age 18 with the label and providing vocals for Jack Peñate.

The album also contains her first song, "Hometown Glory", written when she was 16, which is based on her home suburb of West Norwood in London.

Named after the age of the singer during its release and production, 19 is a blue-eyed soul album with folk rock, indie pop, and jazz influences and lyrics describing heartbreak, nostalgia and relationships.

[2] 19 received positive reviews from music critics, who praised Adele's vocal prowess and songwriting talent at such a young age and noted her as having the "potential to become among the most respected and inspiring international artists of her generation.

[4] At the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, Adele won Best New Artist alongside Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for "Chasing Pavements".

Adele graduated from the BRIT School for Performing Arts & Technology in Croydon in April 2006,[11] where she was a classmate of Leona Lewis and Jessie J.

[12][13] Adele credits the school with nurturing her talent[2] even though, at the time, she was more interested in going into A&R and hoped to launch other people's careers.

[12] The friend posted the demo on Myspace, where it became very successful and led to a phone call from Richard Russell, boss of the music label XL Recordings.

[16] September was managing Jamie T at the time and this proved a major draw for Adele, a big fan of the British singer-songwriter.

[18] However, most of the songs were written solely by Adele, including "Best for Last", "Crazy for You", "First Love", and "My Same", as well as her debut single, "Hometown Glory".

[18] That song was written by Adele in 10 minutes after her mother tried to persuade her to leave her home town of West Norwood in London for university.

The episode, which included an expected appearance by then US vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin, earned the program its best ratings in 14 years with 17 million viewers.

[31] 19 received generally positive reviews from critics who praised Adele's vocal prowess and songwriting talent.

[32] The Observer's Caspar Llewellyn Smith wrote in his review, "The way [Adele] stretched the vowels, her wonderful soulful phrasing, the sheer unadulterated pleasure of her voice, stood out all the more; little doubt that she's a rare singer, which another track first available on her MySpace site, 'Daydreamer', confirmed" they gave the album a five-star response.

[38] "Pitching up somewhere between blues, folk and jazz, she's included something for everyone without ever pandering to a particular trend", wrote Chris Long from BBC Music.

"Her melodies exude warmth, her singing is occasionally stunning and, in the dramatic Hometown Glory, the spiky cool of Cold Shoulder (which is unexpectedly reminiscent of Shara Nelson-era Massive Attack) and the piano epic Make You Feel My Love, she has tracks that make Lily Allen and Kate Nash sound every bit as ordinary as they are.

"[3] Mikael Wood was less impressed in Entertainment Weekly, writing that "Adele's songs aren't as sharp as Duffy's...Still, her singing throughout is a thing to behold.

"[34] Uncut was more critical, believing that "Adele can certainly sing, but '19' reeks of some A&R trendhound making it his/her biz to sign The New Amy and not resting till s/he's found the right chick from South London to fit the bill".

[61] The following year, she received a second consecutive nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, for "Hometown Glory", but lost to "Halo" by Beyoncé.