Adele Laurie Blue Adkins[3] MBE (born 5 May 1988) is an English singer-songwriter. Adele was offered a recording contract from XL Recordings after a friend posted her demo on Myspace in 2006. The next year she received the Brit Awards "Critics' Choice" award and won the BBC Sound of 2008. Her debut album, 19, was released in 2008 to commercial and critical success. It certified four times platinum in the UK, and double platinum in the US.[4][5] Her career in the US was boosted by a Saturday Night Live appearance in late 2008. At the 51st Annual Grammy Awards, Adele received the awards for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.[6] Adele released her second studio album, 21, in early 2011.[7][8] The album was well received critically and surpa**ed the success of her début,[9] earning the singer six Grammy Awards in 2012 including Album of the Year, equalling the record for most Grammy Awards won by a female artist in one night.[10] The album has also led to her receiving numerous other awards, including two Brit Awards and three American Music Awards. The album has been certified 16 times platinum in the UK;[4] in the US the album has held the top position longer than any other album since 1985, and is certified Diamond.[11][12][13] The album has sold over 28 million copies worldwide.[14] The success of 21 earned Adele numerous mentions in the Guinness World Records. She is the first artist to sell more than 3 million copies of an album in a year in the UK.[15] With her two albums and the first two singles from 21, "Rolling in the Deep" and "Someone Like You", she became the first living artist to achieve the feat of having two top-five hits in both the UK Official Singles Chart and the Official Albums Chart simultaneously since The Beatles in 1964.[16] With her third release from the album, "Set Fire to the Rain", which became her third number one single in the US, Adele became the first solo artist in history to lead the Billboard 200 concurrently with three Billboard Hot 100 number-ones.[17]