British singer Adele is convinced she owes her successful career to the music school where she and fellow singers Amy Winehouse and Duffy got their start. The Chasing Pavements hitmaker was headed down a "bleak" path with friends whose only ambitions were to have children - until she enrolled in the BRIT academy in London where she was surrounded by hundreds of like-minded and talented pupils.
The star is adamant the esteemed institution changed her life - and made her a star.
She says, "Nothing against it, but all of my friends from school have kids. Not because they didn't have things to do, but that's just what you did. It's rubbish.
"Things were looking quite bleak. Then I got to go to school with 400 other kids who wanted to be something."
And Adele has heaped praise on the BRIT school's most famous pupil: "Amy Winehouse started it all. It's good that Duffy and I are doing well, but I think it's part of the Amy thing. The world just wants more Amy."