It's Not Likely I'll Ever Find Someone Like You

Adele Laurie Blue Adkins is every bit as big as her name.

- Pank Jit Sin

After a debut album, 19, which went platinum seven times and three times in the UK and US, respectively, she launched a follow-up album, 21, which was an even bigger success. Only 30 years old currently, she has been showered with accolades and awards, including the Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe. She was named Artist of the Year for three years, listed as one of the 100 Greatest Women in Music and named one of the most influential people in the world by Time magazine.

Even though she is one of the best known and best-selling singers of the current generation, success comes with a price. In late 2011, Adele was diagnosed with haemorrhage in her vocal chords, a condition that came dangerously close to ending her career. The episode happened while she was singing live on a French radio show. However, the miracle of modern medicine, i.e. vocal cord microsurgery, managed to save her, and before long Adele was back to her full glory. She credits her surgeon Dr Steven Zeitels with the success and recovery.

Not everyone is so lucky though. Another widely-known person to go under the knife (unsuccessfully) was Dame Julie Andrews, who lost the ability to sing after surgery to correct noncancerous nodules in her throat. Her surgery did not go as planned and the world would never get to listen to her perform live anymore. While she filed a lawsuit against her surgeons and subsequently settled out of court, nothing can bring back her lovely four-octave voice.