Slinky Winfield a k a Slinky Sunbeam (Getty Images)
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Adele’s songs of heartbreak have turned her into one of the best-selling artists on the planet. Her most recent studio album, “21,” has set chart records in both the UK and US. After a dip due to competition from Michael Buble’s “Christmas” album, it is once again the No. 1 album here. Tonight at the Grammys, she’s up for five awards, including the most prestigious Best Record, Song and Album categories.
When she performs at the ceremony, it will mark her first live appearance since October, when she was forced to cut short a tour because of a throat ailment that culminated in a November vocal chord surgery.
Yet for all the undeniable power of her extraordinary voice, the true appeal of Adele Laurie Blue Adkins lies in her ability to tap into the deepest recesses of the heart. The 23-year-old has spoken candidly of taking inspiration for her two multi-platinum albums from being spurned by former lovers.
Until now, however, little has been known of the men who unwittingly inspired her music. The fiercely private Adele, a working-class British girl raised by her single-parent mother in some of the rougher parts of London, has never revealed their identities.
Small wonder, perhaps, that according to the singer, her first serious boyfriend (who ended their relationship by cheating on her) once sought a share of the royalties from her debut album, on the grounds that his behavior inspired the music.
While that cad remains anonymous, the man who inspired “Rolling in the Deep” has been unveiled. He’s a musician and actor who goes by the name Slinky Sunbeam and hails from the seaside town of Margate. Also known as Slinky Winfield, the 25-year-old became Adele’s lover after she was famous, introduced through her close-knit circle of art-loving friends in South London.
“Adele likes to keep part of her life back for herself, but it’s an open secret that Slinky was the guy who inspired ‘21,’ ” a friend of the singer tells The Post. “He’s a seriously good-looking guy. He has a great body and likes to wear vests to show it off. And he has this crazy hair which reminds me of Jimi Hendrix — it’s really wild and untamed.
“It’s easy to see what attracted Adele to him,” the friend adds. “He’s a really popular guy, the life and soul of the party, and he’s a musician as well. But while Adele has the knack for writing songs which the whole world can tap into, Slinky’s material is more underground and kind of art-school trendy.”
Adele’s emotional loss was the wider world’s gain, however, as her break with Slinky was poured into the hits “Someone Like You” and “Rolling in the Deep.”
Adele claims that the couple simply “grew apart,” but friends say the real catalyst was Slinky developing a relationship with Burberry model Morwenna Lytton Cobbold. “Slinky isn’t the kind of guy you can tie down,” the friend says. “It was always going to end in tears, and those tears were always going to be Adele’s.”
Despite Adele’s assertion last year that she would “do anything” to rekindle the relationship, their affair was surprisingly informal. “They never lived together, and I can’t really recall Slinky ever describing Adele as his girlfriend,” says the friend.
If it was a one-sided relationship, this is something of a theme in Adele’s life. Despite exhaustive inquiries, the boyfriend who inspired Adele’s debut album has never been identified. He has proved so elusive, that some skeptics question just how serious the relationship was.
As one industry insider puts it:
“A whole lot of people think this is an example of Adele’s overdeveloped romanticism, because how else could you keep such an apparently serious relationship secret so long? I’m not saying she made it up, but there’s a strong suspicion that she’s gilding the lily.”
Others in her inner circle have pointed to Adele’s background as an explanation for her romantic fixation. Her mother, Penny, was a teenage art student when she became pregnant with Adele. Her father, a Welsh plumber named Mark Evans, was a womanizing alcoholic who broke Penny’s heart by walking out when Adele was just four years old. “It’s something of a family trait,” says a long-time associate of the star. “Adele has heartbreak written into her genetic code.”
With success, however, has come a certain emotional calm. Adele spoke recently of how she has built bridges with Slinky (though she did not use his name), saying: “He changed my life, I can’t deny that. The album helped me get over splitting up with [him]. It helped me forgive, and I hope that he has forgiven himself.”
Recently, Adele’s romantic prospects have brightened, with the revelation that she is in a serious relationship with Simon Konecki, a 36-year-old entrepreneur. She’s made no attempt to conceal his identity, and has already met his parents.
And while Konecki — known to his friends as, wait for it, “Swampy” — comes with baggage as a divorcé with a 5-year-old daughter, Adele is serious enough about the relationship to rent a country estate a few miles outside his hometown of Brighton.
“He’s not the kind of guy Adele usually goes for, so we have high hopes Simon’s going to stick around for a while yet,” adds the friend. “And even if he does end up dumping her like the others, at least she’ll get another amazing record out of it!”