In a world concerned with the rise of AI “artists” and nepo babies, there is one notable artist proving that hard work can still take you far. ADÉLA is a Slovakian singer-songwriter and dancer proving that talent and hard work transcend borders and limitations.

Currently on her 2026 North American tour, The Red Bottoms Tour, ADÉLA is selling out the venues every night. Her latest single, “Ain’t In LA” took pop fans and social media users by storm, earning her a number 1 spot on the Philippines Hot 100 and a spot on the Spotify Top 40. “Ain’t In LA” debuted at 85 on the Billboard Hot 100, making her the first Slovak artist to achieve this. To many, it seems like she appeared overnight. She has received numerous industry plant accusations since opening for Demi Lovato’s It’s Not That Deep Tour, due to her quick rise to popularity. While some think ADÉLA’s rise to fame was suspiciously fast, there is a lot more to her story that led her to performing at Lollapalooza and selling out her Red Bottoms Tour. The tour with Lovato was a great accelerator in her career.

                  ADÉLA was born in Bratislava, the capital city of Slovakia where she spent her late nights studying American culture and the English language. She believed in her early years that Hannah Montana, one of her favorite artists, was also Slovak due to her country dubbing over American shows. She was inspired to learn English when her brother informed her Hannah Montana was American, she then adopted the belief that to become a popstar, she had to sound American. At the age of 8, she began teaching herself English by watching YouTube videos, American television, and celebrity interviews. With lots of discipline, she became fluent by age 9.

Her career started at the age of 3, where she began ballet training in Moscow. Not only did this training improve her dancing, it helped her to build her stage presence, discipline, and stamina. As a young teenager, she moved to Vienna Austria to join the Vienna State Ballet. A year later at the age of only 15, she moved alone to London, England to join the English National Ballet School. However, her dream of being a popstar was still there.

Two years later, in 2022, ADÉLA moved to Los Angeles, California to pursue a career in music. She began studying music at Santa Monica College before dropping out in 2023 to participate in the HYBExGeffen reality competition series Dream Academy, the same competition that formed the global girl group KATSEYE. During the first public challenge, she was the first to be eliminated after receiving the lowest amount of fan votes. She describes the experience in Dream Academy as the worst year of her life. Despite this, her journey was not over. In 2024, Netflix released the docuseries, Popstar Academy: KATSEYE, which followed the competition. During this time, ADÉLA received a lot of hate online from viewers for edited clips intended to create drama in the show. She was named a mean girl, and even called racist by netizens for the numerous out of context clips following her elimination. While most would give up, this became the push she needed.

In September 2024, ADÉLA debuted her first single “Homewrecked,” a heartbreaking, dark pop track that explores her father’s infidelity and the rage she felt towards him. This storytelling momentum only continued with her next single, “Superscar” released just a month later. “Superscar” heavily criticized the music industry and its executives, and how they treat young women in music. Her third single, “Machine Girl,” co-produced by Canadian artist Grimes, explored her feelings about the Netflix docuseries and the “mean girl” allegations. “Machine Girl” takes the angry, pointed fingers of fans and redirects them towards “the machine,” which is referring to the producers and industry that pit women against each other to entertain the public. She challenges the audience to be angry at the people behind the “drama” instead of the young women who are victims to it. Her last pre-release single for the album The Provocateur, “Death by Devotion,” released in July 2025 told the tale of the cycle of a dedicated young performer, putting their all into and being loyal to something that will never give the performer anything back. Her debut EP, The Provocateur, was released in August of 2025 alongside her final single, “Sex on the Beat,” which heavily criticized the sexualization of women in the music industry, similarly to “Superscar.” She performed this EP on her first tour, The ProvocaTour, in October 2025.

In April and May 2026, she performed as the opener for Demi Lovato’s It’s Not That Deep Tour, where she played two songs that were unreleased at the time, “Ain’t in LA” and “Boys.” She also released the single “KGB” during the tour, which took the internet by storm due to her bravery to criticize the Soviet Union, despite being from a country heavily influenced by it. I attended the tour stop in Columbus, Ohio at Nationwide Arena, and immediately was impressed by her vocals, stamina, and stability. I knew from that day that she would be a huge artist soon, and being eliminated from Dream Academy was a blessing for her. Many news publications only affirmed my belief, which is rare for such a new artist with no connections. The day after the tour, she announced a tour of her own, The Red Bottoms Tour. In July 2026, she announced her first album, Prima. This album had very mixed feedback due to how different it was from her first project. Overall, the release has been successful, with “Nicole Kidman” and “Ain’t in LA” trending on social media and both appearing on the US Billboard Hot 100. Just like with The Provocateur, fans predict that Prima will take a few weeks to rise to popularity but surely will.

While people are paying their way onto the charts, generating music with AI, and stealing the music of others to claim their way to fame, ADÉLA is claiming what is hers after two decades of hard work and determination. Her versatility keeps every track she releases feeling new and exciting, pulling in new fans every time.

ADÉLA is set to perform more shows to wrap up the US leg of tour this month, and is set to perform at two Jingle Ball locations. In 2027, she is embarking on the European leg of her tour and performing at the Laneway Festival across Australia and New Zealand. No matter what type of music you prefer, there is still something you can take away from ADÉLA’s story.

Photos by Nicole Griffen