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Music does bring people together.
And if Adele and Drake want to turn their new friendship into a working collaboration, that would be amazing, but in the meantime we’re good with knowing that the two platinum-selling artists are joining forces in service of a fun weekend.
Surprising some but charming everybody, last Sunday the pair—who, incidentally, have 19 Grammys between them (15 of them Adele’s)—grabbed food, went bowling and then ended up at a vape lounge in Studio City, Calif., where celebrities go when they want to be left alone but still be treated like celebrities.
TMZ placed them at Jerry’s Deli, Pinz Bowling (which is right next door) and Chill N Vape Lounge, where Drake broke out his Juul. (Adele infamously used to be a heavy smoker, but pretty much had no choice but to quit after a vocal cord hemorrhage in 2011.)
Anyway, Drake and Adele hanging out might seem random, but just like so many celebrity friendships, it simply sprang from their mutual admiration for each other—which goes way back.
Though the Canadian and British stars have spent most of their lives separated by an ocean, Adele and her family have been spending a lot of time in Los Angeles in recent months—and she caught Drake in concert at Staples Center in October. In fact, one of the mere handful of tweets she posted in 2018 was about how great he was.
“Oiii Champagne Papi blew my mind tonight!” she shared Oct. 12. “Best production I’ve ever seen hands down and way up there with one of my favorite shows of all time. Huge love.”
The sentiment did not go unappreciated.
When Drake spied Adele’s tweet, he shared it on Instagram, marveling, “Oiiiiiii don’t f–king get me gassed right now I love this woman and she came to the show … Thank god nobody told me I would have been SHOOK.”
Obviously these two had to meet. And really, it’s far more surprising that they hadn’t met before.
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The two of them were basically king and queen of 2015, after all.
Drake’s surprise February release If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late sold over 1 million copies and was the No. 1 digital album of the year right up until Adele dropped her monster-hit 25 that November and it went on to be the biggest-selling album of 2015 and 2016.
They were easily two of the most discussed artists at the time, and in writing about Drake’s ubiquity vs. Adele’s tendency to disappear for years at a time—respective strategies that were obviously working for them—Stereogum’s Chris DeVille noted, “I’m not ready to posit Drake as the anti-Adele, but he again serves as a fine comparison point.”
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The relatable lovelorn themes to be found on their albums also sent hearts aflutter, as fans posted treatises on how only Adele and Drake’s music were adept at encapsulating on one album all the emotions associated with a breakup, conversations were envisioned using only “Hello” and “Hotline Bling” lyrics (totally works) and fans started to ship a musical coupling.
Ellen DeGeneres was hip to the mashup potential early on, parodying Adele’s video by pretending to be the impatient recipient of the British singer’s emotional call, only to get a call from Drake on the other line.
So they’ve been joined together in people’s minds for quite some time. And, as it turns out, in their own.
Her own success aside, in a November 2015 interview with Beats 1 host Zane Lowe, Adele said Drake was among the artists she was listening to at the time. And just like every other “Hotline Bling” enthusiast, she was dancing to him, too.
“I had a drink, like, three weeks ago [with] my best friends, in fact it was to celebrate ‘Hello,'” she told Canada’s etalk. “And I was off my face because I don’t really drink anymore, and they’ve got video of me dancing to [‘Hotline Bling’] on a coffee table as well.”
Asked about the “Hotline Bling”-“Hello” memes, she said, “I really want us to do an official remix. I love Drake. I love Drake so much. I even got the coat that’s in the video, I got it delivered the other day, I ordered it. The red one.”
But she never called him on his cell phone!
Drake got word, though, and he said at the time, sending Adrizzy dreams into overdrive, “I’d do anything with Adele. I’d literally go to Adele’s house right now and do laundry for her.”
He even posted a fan’s drawing of the two of them (since taken down, alas), and captioned it, “Me and my main ting just coolin.”
The laundry might have been a good excuse to hang out, actually, because Adele is a renowned homebody and—when she’s not touring or collecting awards—enjoys leading a pretty private life in London, especially since welcoming son Angelo in 2012 with her now-husband Simon Konecki.
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So, she and Drake remained ships in the night, though every once in awhile they’ve docked in the same port.
They were both at the MTV Video Music Awards in 2011—she performed, he presented. After trading compliments via the media in 2015, they both performed at the 2016 Brit Awards, but Drake was sharing the stage with Rihanna, so he may have been preoccupied. The last Grammys they both attended was in 2013, so Drake wasn’t in the house to witness Adele’s five-win triumph in 2017, despite being nominated for eight Grammys himself and winning two (Best Rap Song and Rap/Sung Performance for “Hotline Bling,” of course).
And while that night is memorable for Adele taking issue with the fact that her 25 topped Beyoncé‘s Lemonade for Album of the Year… 25 also topped Drake’s Views. (Interestingly, like Adele, he took issue with his wins, too, but his reasoning was that he didn’t consider “Hotline Bling” a rap song and the Grammys were once again pigeonholing him, either because he’s someone who sometimes raps, or because he’s black.)
TMZ reported that the long-awaited meeting occurred after Drake’s October show, a stop on his Aubrey & The Three Migos Tour. But all that really matters is that it didn’t disappoint when it finally happened.