When it comes to big voices, you can start the list with Adele. (Kind of handy that her name starts with an "A.")
Like everyone else, I was blown away when she burst onto the music scene in 2008, with her debut album "19." At the 2009 Grammy Awards, she won for Best New Artist. In 2011, she came out with "21" and the next year went with an armful of Grammys, including Album of the Year.
Too bad I missed my chance in the summer of 2011, when she played a concert at McMenamins Edgefield, just outside Portland. She'd been scheduled to play the Crystal Ballroom a couple months earlier but had to cancel because of illness.
Now? I'd be lucky to get a seat if she played the Rose Garden.
Based on everything I've seen and read, including a "60 Minutes" interview with Anderson Cooper, Adele seems genuinely surprised at her success and determined to keep a healthy perspective.
She's the real deal, for sure.