"Hometown Glory"
"Hometown Glory" re-release cover on XL Recordings
Single by Adele
from the album 19
B-side
  • "Best for Last"
  • "Fool That I Am" (live)
Released22 October 2007 (2007-10-22)
RecordedNovember 2006 – June 2007
Length
  • 4:31 (album version)
  • 3:37 (radio edit)
Label
  • Pacemaker
  • XL
Songwriter(s)Adele Adkins
Producer(s)Jim Abbiss
Adele singles chronology
"Hometown Glory"
(2007) 		"Chasing Pavements"
(2008)
Music video
"Hometown Glory" on YouTube

"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. "Hometown Glory" is the first song that Adele ever wrote.[1]

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

"Hometown Glory" was re-released on 21 July 2008 as the follow-up to second single "Cold Shoulder". The song was added to Radio 1's B-list on 18 June 2008, and moved up to Radio 1's A-list on 2 July 2008. Its B-side now featured Adele's brand-new cover of the Etta James song "Fool That I Am", which was recorded during a live performance in Cambridge.[4] The song was later released in 2008 as Adele's debut single for the US market. Due to its popularity in the UK, which resulted in it charting inside the top 40 twice on download sales alone, it was re-released as the third single (fourth including the original single release) from the album on 21 July 2008. As of July 2008, the song has become Adele's third consecutive top 20 hit single.

The song is played in the key of B♭ minor with an intro at a tempo of 60 beats per minute, before changing to 124 beats per minute. Adele's vocal range is D♭3–A5.[5] "Hometown Glory" follows the chord progression B♭m(i) – D♭/A♭(III) – D♭/F(III) – G♭maj7/B♭(VI M7).

Chart performance

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.

Accolades

"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]

Year Organization Award Result Ref.
2010 Grammy Awards Best Female Pop Vocal Performance Nominated [7]

Music video

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 December 2023, the music video has received over 125 million views on YouTube.

In the media

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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".

Adele's song has been used in various soap operas in accompaniment to the deaths of Danielle Jones, Steph Roach, Joe McIntyre, Archie Mitchell, and Bradley Branning. It has also been used in EastEnders: Revealed. Various reality singing and talent shows use the song in between performances such as The X Factor in the United Kingdom and in Australia, Britain's Got Talent, and Australia's Got Talent. The song was used memorably at the end of Julien Temple's 2012 documentary, London: The Modern Babylon, which debuted on BBC in August 2012 to coincide with the end of the Olympic Games and takes its place in the film alongside other London anthems including "London Calling" by The Clash and "Waterloo Sunset" by The Kinks.

On February 22, 2018, before an NHL game between the Washington Capitals and Florida Panthers, the song was played in a tribute video at BB&T Center to honor the 17 victims who were killed in the Parkland high school shooting 8 days prior.

During the free skate of both the pairs and team events at the 2018 Winter Olympics, Canadians Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford skated to the song. "Hometown Glory" was also their winning free performance at the 2016 World Figure Skating Championships.

On the 30 September 2020, the song was used during the final moments of the BBC series Ambulance.

The song was used in commercials for the 2023 NBA playoffs.

Formats and track listings

Original release

7-inch vinyl

  1. "Hometown Glory"
  2. "Best for Last"

Re-release

CD single

  1. "Hometown Glory" – 4:32
  2. "Fool That I Am" (Live) – 3:45

Digital EP

  1. "Hometown Glory" – 3:40
  2. "Hometown Glory" (Axwell Radio Edit) – 3:35
  3. "Hometown Glory" (Axwell Club Mix) – 5:11
  4. "Hometown Glory" (Axwell Remode) – 5:55
  5. "Hometown Glory" (High Contrast Remix) – 6:36
  6. "Hometown Glory" (High Contrast Remix) [Instrumental] – 6:35

7-inch vinyl

  1. "Hometown Glory" – 4:32
  2. "Fool That I Am" (Live) – 3:45

12-inch vinyl

  1. "Hometown Glory" (High Contrast remix)
  2. "Hometown Glory" (High Contrast remix instrumental)

Official remixes

Charts

Certifications

Certifications for "Hometown Glory"
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[20] Platinum 80,000‡
United Kingdom (BPI)[22] Platinum 739,000[21]

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ^ "YouTube". www.youtube.com.
  2. ^ "Pacemaker Recordings web site". Pacemakerrecordings.com. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  3. ^ "Grammy Awards: List of Winners". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 January 2010.
  4. ^ "Adele interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' July 2008". Bluesandsoul.com. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  5. ^ "Adele: Hometown Glory Sheet Music". sheetmusicdirect.com. Universal Music Publishing Limited. 2007.
  6. ^ "List of Grammy winners". CNN Entertainment. 1 February 2010. Archived from the original on 4 February 2010. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
  7. ^ "Complete List of Nominees for the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards". E Online. 3 December 2009. Archived from the original on 19 October 2012. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
  8. ^ Glossolalia7 (12 February 2010). "ADELE / HOMETOWN GLORY -Behind the Scenes DIRECTOR: ROCKY SCHENCK" – via YouTube.((cite web)): CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  9. ^ "Interview with Jonathan Dickins". HitQuarters. 14 July 2008. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  10. ^ "Adele – Hometown Glory" (in Dutch). Ultratip.
  11. ^ "Adele – Hometown Glory" (in French). Ultratip.
  12. ^ "Chart Search Results - European Hot 100 Singles 2008-08-09". Billboard.biz. Archived from the original on 7 August 2012. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  13. ^ "Adele – Hometown Glory" (in French). Les classement single.
  14. ^ "Irish Charts Portal: Discography Adele". Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  15. ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – Adele" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40.
  16. ^ "Adele – Hometown Glory" (in Dutch). Single Top 100.
  17. ^ "Official Scottish Singles Sales Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 2 October 2015.
  18. ^ "Official Singles Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
  19. ^ "UK ChartPlus - Official singles chart - 2008" (PDF). Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  20. ^ "Canadian single certifications – Adele – Hometown Glory". Music Canada. Retrieved 19 November 2020.
  21. ^ Griffiths, George (14 October 2021). "Adele's Official Top 20 biggest songs revealed". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  22. ^ "British single certifications – Adele – Hometown Glory". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
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