Adele and Denyce Graves Share the Same Vocal Surgeon

U.K. singer Adele

"The biggest-selling pop artist of the year has gone silent. The British pop/soul singer Adele was forced to cancel the rest of her 2011 tour. Earlier this year, she suffered two vocal hemorrhages and will need to undergo surgery. Singers are in a high-risk business. Many famous singers have needed similar treatment. 'Essentially, people who sing are vocal athletes,' says Dr. Steven Zeitels, director of the Voice Center at Massachusetts General Hospital. 'So you can look at this as a not unusual scenario as an athlete getting an injury in that area.' Zeitels is now working with Adele. He says that after surgery, Adele will most likely need 'a number of months' to recover. The list of Zeitels' patients is like a who's who of great singers: Julie Andrews, Roger Daltrey and opera singer Denyce Graves. Graves says that in 2000, her vocal cords hemorrhaged while she was backstage, in the middle of an engagement. 'I sneezed. It was that simple,' she recalls. 'I sneezed and I hemorrhaged.' Graves says it was clear something serious had happened. 'I lost my voice immediately and it was most frightening, terrifying experiences ever,' she says. She had surgery, but kept it a secret for fear the news would hurt her career." [Source]

American mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves

The World of Patti Smith Mixes Opera and Pop Music

Smith arriving at the MET Opera

'As it happens, the 64-year-old made her acting debut last month on an episode of 'Law & Order: Criminal Intent,' but it’s hardly a surprise to see her pushing into new areas of art and expression. Smith just won a Polar Music Prize in May and is still collecting trophies (a National Book Award among them) for 'Just Kids,' the 2010 memoir of her relationship with artist Robert Mapplethorpe. Smith has said that she’s also working on a crime novel set in London, but when we bumped into her all she wanted to talk about was opera — and her singular obsession in the pop music world. 'I've been listening to Adele nonstop,' Smith said. 'That ‘Rolling in the Deep’ song, I must have listened to that a thousand times.' [Source]

Maria Callas Keeps Watch Over Adele at NPR

One vocal goddess (hiding in the corner) observes another during a performance.

"A best-selling U.K. pop singer, Adele rocketed to fame a few years ago, alongside a handful of other soulful throwbacks. But unlike many other past recipients of the Best New Artist Grammy (Adele won the award in 2009), it's hard to imagine her fading from the public consciousness in the years to come; her voice is too pure, too charismatic. Witness this three-song Tiny Desk Concert at the NPR Music offices, wherein she belts out three songs — the heartbreaking ballad "Someone Like You," the ubiquitous hit "Chasing Pavements" and the first single from 21, "Rolling in the Deep" — with only the low-key accompaniment of keyboardist Miles Robertson and guitarist Ben Thomas." Live in-studio performance video is after the jump! [Source]