By Peter Vincent
The launch date for what should be the biggest record of the year is firming, the third album by superstar pop diva Adele which seems likely to be called 25.
The soul-pop Queen sold in excess of 30 million copies of her first two records, 19 and 21, but has been on hiatus since 2013.
Adele arrives at the 2013 Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California.Credit: Christopher Polk
Adele has been caring for her young son Angelo, who was born in 2012, but speculation has slowly been mounting about her return to the charts since. Now various rumours have the album hitting the shelves (and online stores) sometime between November 11 and 20 this year.
Although no music has been released yet, plenty is known about the album - Damon Albarn, Tobian Jesso jr, Danger Mouse, Ryan Tedder and Max Martin have collaborated with her. Phil Collins' calls weren't returned after initial discussions and Adele decided against using Alive, a song she co-wrote with Sia. That was released by Sia last week.
It's probable that 25 would smash the year's sales record, quickly topping a million sales.
Adele has also become British bookmakers' favourite to headline Glastonbury in 2016, alongside the Foo Fighters, which were forced to pull out after Dave Grohl broke his ankle on stage in Sweden shortly before Glastonbury 2015.