Mark Evans

Mark Evans
Information
Born	1962
Birth place	Wales
Occupations	Plumber
Relationship to Adele	Father

Mark Evans (1962 – 2021) was the estranged father of Adele. In the wake of his separation from Penny Adkins, Adele’s mother, when Adele was only three, and his own father’s death, Evans resorted to alcoholism and distanced himself from his daughter, permanently damaging their relationship.

In the years following his estrangement from his family, Evans lived in Cardiff, Wales, where he worked as a plumber. In 2013, he revealed that he was battling bowel cancer (the same cancer from which his father died) and feared that he would die before he was able to rekindle his relationship with Adele and get to meet his grandson. He later claimed that they rekindled their relationship during the making of Adele's third studio album, 25, a statement which Adele has since denied.

Evans died from cancer in May of 2021.

Biography

Early life

Mark was born to John and Rose Evans in Wales in 1962. He and his younger brother Richard grew up in Penarth.

In Mark's youth, he was a choirboy, eventually leading to his interest in a career in drama; however, he ultimately attended a technical college in Llandaff, where he was formally trained as a plumber before joining his father's plumbing business.

Fatherhood

By 1987, Evans had moved to London, where he worked as a window cleaner. That summer, he met Penny Adkins, Adele's mother, at The King's Head pub in North London. Mark recalled it as "love at first sight." Penny, at the time an art student, fell in love with Evans. Shortly after the two moved in together, she became pregnant. Penny gave birth to their daughter, Adele Laurie Blue Adkins, on May 5, 1988. Mark was not present at his daughter's birth, as she was unexpectedly born two weeks early. Shortly after Adele's birth, Mark asked Penny to marry him, although she refused, believing they were too young.

Despite Penny's refusal to marry him, the two remained together. Evans recalls lying on the sofa with Adele at night, listening to artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Bob Dylan, and Nina Simone. He claims that this prompted him to name her "Blue," because she reminded him of the music he loved—the blues. By the time Adele was about 9 months old, Mark and Penny had split up, but remained on good terms, with Adele and Penny frequently traveling to visit Mark and his family. Mark, meanwhile, was working for his father, who had taken over the lease on a café at Barry Island; the café would eventually be featured in Gavin & Stacey, which starred Adele's future friend, James Corden. After an unsuccessful first year, Mark returned to London to be with Adele at the end of the summer. The following year, Mark took over the café while his father managed the family plumbing business, and eventually decided not to return to London.

Estrangement

By the time Adele was three, Mark had permanently moved back to Wales, further distancing himself from Adele and Penny. Despite this, he continued to see Adele and maintained his relationship with her. By 1995, Mark had begun a relationship with a woman named Siobhan O'Sullivan and fathered her child, Adele's half-brother Cameron. In May 1999, Mark's father, John, died from bowel cancer. His father's death, partnered with his split from his O'Sullivan and the sudden death of his best friend Nigel, drove him to alcoholism, causing a rift in his relationship with his daughter as she entered her teen years.

By the time 19, Adele's debut studio album, was released, Mark had taken control of his drinking problem and attempted to turn his life around. He claimed that he was trying to rekindle his relationship with Adele. In an interview published shortly after the album's release, Adele noted that, although her father was not actively part of her life growing up, "I don't hate him, he's my dad."

In 2011, after both Mark and his mother had been contacted by a magazine who wanted an exclusive interview, Adele decided that she and her father would do a joint interview together to "get it all out in the open." However, after Adele had to back out at the last minute, Mark proceeded to do the interview alone. Following the interview, Penny contacted him for what he claimed was the last time, telling him, "You shouldn't have done that." Mark alleged that he and his daughter had made up and shared a drink a few nights before she had embarked on her Adele Live tour in support of her sophomore album, 21, although Adele denied his statements.

Shortly after Mark's story was released, another one was published and caused controversy because paparazzi had reportedly ambushed Adele's grandmother for information, allegedly prompting Adele to begin drinking again. Adele went on to remark that if she ever saw her father again she would "spit in his face."

Despite claims made by Mark that Adele had forgiven him, in 2013, he revealed that he was battling bowel cancer and that he feared he would never meet his grandson, Angelo, due to his estranged relationship with his daughter. The making of Adele's third album, 25, was thought to be a turning point in their relationship. During the production they reportedly patched up, and Mark called the feud a "misunderstanding." Despite these claims, during Adele's acceptance speech for Record of the Year at the Grammy Awards in 2017, she told her manager Jonathan that she loved him like a father being that she didn't love her own father, confirming that she and Mark were still estranged.

Death

Following an eight-year battle with bowel cancer, Evans died in May 2021 at the age of 57.