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Adele Breaks Down in Tears on Stage, Dedicates Belgium Concert to Orlando Shooting Victims

Adele opened up about her emotional connection to the LGBTQA community and dedicated her Sunday, June 12, concert in Antwerp, Belgium, to the victims of the fatal shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, which occurred earlier that same day.

“I’d like to start tonight by dedicating this entire show to everybody in Orlando and Pulse nightclub,” the “Hello” singer, 28, told the crowd as her eyes welled up with tears. “The LGBTQA community, they’re like my soulmates since I was really young, so I’m really moved by it.”

As Us Weekly previously reported, police identified the shooter in the tragic event as Omar Mateen, a 29-year-old from Fort Pierce, Florida. Mateen opened fire in the club just after 2 a.m., killing 49 and wounding dozens more.

Adele
Adele performs during her tour in 2016.

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In an attempt to relieve tension and lighten the mood at her show, Adele joked, “I don’t know why I’m crying already, because most of tonight is pretty miserable because my songs are f–king miserable.”

Adele
Adele crying on stage.

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The 10-time Grammy winner then broke out into her 2011 hit “Rumour Has It,” and encouraged her fans to dance. “I have two songs that sound happy, but they’re not, and if you’d like to dance, this is your final chance,” she told her European fans. “Literally.… So if you’d like to dance, please join me now. Let’s make some noise.”

This is the second time in less than a week that Adele has used one of her live performances to make a statement. On the June 9 stop of her 25 tour in Paris, she responded to producer Tony Visconti’s recent interview with the Daily Star, in which he said that the British songbird’s impressive vocals are “questionable” and insinuated that they are possibly assisted by Auto-Tune.

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“Some d–khead tried to say that my voice was not me on record,” she said in between songs. “Dude, suck my d–k.”

Visconti, 72, who served as David Bowie’s longtime collaborator, has since apologized to Adele.

“I’m sorry that what I said in regards to what’s being played on radio was misconstrued, yet I cannot apologize for something taken the wrong way. If Adele has taken my comments as offensive that was certainly not my intent,” he told Billboard on Sunday, June 12. “Adele has a great voice and it brings pleasure to millions.”

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