In five years’ time I’d like to be a mum. I want to settle down and have a family, definitely sooner rather than later. I’d like to have finished my second album too, maybe even my third. I’d like a sound that sticks around that other people are inspired by and that people know is me.

Adele frames success as a balance between private fulfillment and artistic legacy. The first half of the statement prioritizes domestic stability—motherhood, settling down, and starting a family—suggesting that fame is not her ultimate horizon. The second half turns to craft: completing albums and developing a recognizable “sound” that endures, influences others, and is unmistakably her own. Taken together, the quote captures an artist imagining a future measured not only by productivity, but by authenticity and longevity—wanting both a life and a body of work that feel grounded, personal, and lasting.