Adele delivered a heartfelt and confessional acceptance speech after being honored with The Sherry Lansing Leadership Award at The Hollywood Reporter’s 2023 Women in Entertainment Gala on Thursday (December 7).

While onstage at The Beverly Hills Hotel in Los Angeles, the 35-year-old “Easy On Me” hitmaker looked back on her career and opened up about what set her apart and helped her develop the global following that she has.

In the process, she explained the reason why she’s only released four albums during her career, which spans nearly two decades.

Head inside to see what Adele had to say…

“It feels like I only just arrived,” Adele admitted. “But upon writing this speech and reflecting a little bit and trying to work out what to say, I realized it’s actually been 17 years I’ve been a signed artist, which is kind of crazy.”

She continued, saying, “Sometimes I wonder within those 17 years if people think that I’m calculated, you know? When I disappear for years on end that I’m elusive and that I believe less is more.”

That’s not the case: “The real reason that I only have four albums, and I don’t think that many people know this… They might know that I have a child and that I’m a mom, but my son is 11 years old right now. If you do the math, that means that right at the height of 21 … I fell pregnant. To many that would be, and it was considered, career suicide. However, I always wanted to go against the grain.

“It was there and then that I chose to reject the scarcity of success and the idea that you have to be constantly relevant to be successful and that perhaps just maybe I could be a hit both on and off the stage,” Adele said. “And you’ll never guess what: F-cking got away with it.”

The superstar credited her character for helping her develop the massive following she has, and she explained how it was developed by the women in her life from a very young age.

“My character as I’m sure you can tell just from the last minute I’ve been onstage has a roughness and a toughness to it. I trust no one and yet I’m completely fearless. I 100% got it from the women who raised me. As a child, you’re a sponge. You learn what you’re shown. My mother, my aunties, my grandmothers, they were all strong, loud, boisterous, loyal and cutthroat women like me,” she said, continuing to reveal similarities between them.

Adele also credited her teachers for helping to mold her.

Press play on the full speech below!

If you missed it, Adele recently revealed the movie and Broadway role that she would be interested in landing.