Adele graces the Cover of TIME

Adele is the music star who closed out 2015. Selling over 5 million copies of her hit single ‘Hello’ and getting a record-breaking over 700 million views on YouTube, Adele’s comeback into music was a huge bang!

She covers TIME’s latest issue where she talks about the future ahead and how she created her album.

On selling millions of copies of 25 in America: It’s a bit ridiculous. I’m not even from America. Maybe they think I’m related to the Queen. Americans are obsessed with the royal family.

On being called a brand: They all use that word. It makes me sound like a fabric softener, or a packet of crisps.

On why people respond so well to her music: The fact that I’m not shy or embarrassed to be falling apart. Everyone falls apart, I think. A lot of people try to be brave and not shed a tear. Sometimes when you know someone else feels as s— as you do, or approaches things in a certain way just like you do, it makes you feel better about yourself. Even though my music is melancholy, there’s also joy in that. I hope I do bring joy to people’s lives, and not just sadness, but I think there’s there’s a comfort in it. But I honestly don’t know. If I knew, I would bottle it, and sell it to everyone else.

On social media: Privacy is key to being able to write a real record, whether people like it or not. My life has changed so much, but I’ve made the realest record I can make, and it’s the real part of me. How am I supposed to write a real record if I’m waiting for half a million likes on a f—ing photo? That ain’t real.

On maintaining a good image: Some artists, the bigger they get, the more horrible they get, and the more unlikable. I don’t care if you make an amazing album—if I don’t like you, I ain’t getting your record. I don’t want you being played in my house if I think you’re a bastard.

On being a mum: The environment in which my kid is growing up couldn’t be further away from the way I grew up. But there was never any embarrassment about showing love in my family. The other day I was saying, ‘Oh God, I’m finding this really hard again with a kid’. I have no time for myself because in between doing this, all my spare time is with him. But then I realized, he’s been keeping me totally cool and calm about the whole thing

On taking time off music for her family: I was very conscious to make sure that our bond was strong and unbreakable. I had to get to that point before I’d come back.