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Hometown Glory › Released



2008

Hometown Glory" is the debut single by English singer-songwriter Adele, released on 22 October 2007 in the United Kingdom. The song appears on her debut studio album 19 (2008). In 2008, the song was re-released as her fourth single. Adele wrote the song within 10 minutes, when she was only 16 years old, after her mother tried to persuade her to leave her home suburb of West Norwood in London for university.
Single by Adelefrom the album 19B-side

"Best for Last"

"Fool That I Am" (live)

Released22 October 2007RecordedNovember 2006 – June 2007Length

4:31 (album version)

3:37 (radio edit)

Label

Pacemaker

XL

Songwriter(s)Adele AdkinsProducer(s)Jim AbbissAdele singles chronology"Hometown Glory"
(2007)"Chasing Pavements"
(2008)Music video"Hometown Glory" on YouTube

In 2007, "Hometown Glory" was released on singer Jamie T's Pacemaker Recordings label as a limited edition 7" vinyl single, of which only 500 copies were made.[2] The song failed to chart initially. However, due to high downloads of the song during the release week of Adele's 19, the song managed to chart inside the UK Singles Chart top 40 for the first time. At the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, the song received a nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.[3]

Background and composition

Chart performanceedit

On 13 April 2008, the song entered the UK Singles Chart at No. 32, following its showcase on an episode of the British television show Skins. On 6 July 2008, "Hometown Glory" re-entered the chart at No. 74 and then climbed to No. 49 the following week. It eventually peaked at No. 19 on 27 July 2008, following its physical release.

Accoladesedit

"Hometown Glory" received a nomination at the 52nd Grammy Awards in the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance category but lost out to Beyoncé's "Halo".[6]

YearOrganizationAwardResultRef.2010Grammy AwardsBest Female Pop Vocal PerformanceNominated[7]

Music videoedit

The initial limited edition vinyl release of "Hometown Glory" does not have a promo video. In June 2008, XL released a Paul Dugdale-directed live video for the single's re-release. In April 2009, Columbia finally released a proper promo video directed by Rocky Schenck and filmed at Sony Pictures Studios on Stage 29.[8] The video shows Adele singing while backdrops of American cities are moved around her. As of August 2023, the music video has received over 123 million views on YouTube.

In the mediaedit

Learn more

This section needs additional citations for verification. (May 2023)

On 7 April 2008, "Hometown Glory" was featured in the critically acclaimed, British teen drama series Skins, resulting in the song re-entering the UK Singles Chart top 40 at No. 32. Later that month, on 24 April 2008, the song was featured in episode 5.15 of the American TV drama One Tree Hill. On 22 May 2008, the song was featured in the season four finale of US TV series Grey's Anatomy. According to Adele's manager Jonathan Dickins, the powerful music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas chose the song after seeing Adele perform it at the Hotel Café in Los Angeles, following a recommendation by Columbia Records' creative licensing staffer Jonathan Palmer.[9] On 10 June 2008, the song was used on popular UK soap Hollyoaks, where it has been used again on 13 October 2008 episode. It was used again on Hollyoaks on the 10 November 2010 episode which featured the death of one of the UK's most popular television characters Steph Cunningham. The opening of the song played as Steph said goodbye to her on-screen husband Gilly Roach, choosing to perish in a house fire rather than face death from the cervical cancer doctors had informed her was terminal. The episode was a season-high for Hollyoaks, viewed by 2.12 million viewers (including timeshift and E4 figures, 0.7, a high for the channel) – a high figure for a non-BBC or ITV show.

On 2 July 2008, it was featured on season four of So You Think You Can Dance in a Mia Michaels' contemporary dance by Katee Shean and eventual winner, Joshua Allen. It also featured in a season two episode of Secret Diary of a Call Girl. A remixed version of the song was featured in the superhero drama-comedy Misfits. The track has also been used on advertisements and promotional scenes for the UK soap Coronation Street. The song was featured in a season one episode of the American teen drama series 90210. It was also featured on the reality TV show The Hills.

"Hometown Glory" has also been sampled by other artists, including by the Mississippi rapper Big K.R.I.T. on his single "Hometown Hero", in Big Sean's song "Hometown" from his mixtape Finally Famous Vol. 3: BIG, by French rapper La Fouine on his song "Vecu" featuring French rapper Kamelancien, by The OCS on his song "Hometown" featuring Glasses Malone, Jay Rock and XO, by the Montreal rapper Boy6lue in his song "Hometown" featuring Two Two and by Minneapolis hippy-hop artist Mod Sun on his song "The Same Way".