She has one name and a singular voice. Big and rich, with a tinge of twang but more of a taste for pop, blues and increasingly R&B. British pop-soul siren Adele is bringing vocals back, and she's the hottest star of 2011.

Her sophomore album, "21," has sold 6 million copies worldwide and 1.7 million in the United States. It has logged 11 weeks at No. 1 in her native England and eight weeks in the States. This week, she topped Billboard's singles chart for the first time with "Rolling in the Deep." Clearly making good on her 2009 Grammy for best new artist, the 23-year-old plays a sold-out concert Thursday at First Avenue.

But Adele didn't end up with the year's biggest-selling album because of vampy videos, big dance beats or an array of guest stars. She did it the old-fashioned way: with passionate vocals rendering her deeply emotional words set to memorable melodies (thanks in part to Minneapolis' own Dan Wilson, who co-wrote three songs). In concert, she's always nervous, which means she could be a chatterbox or strikingly introverted. Either way, she delivers songs like no other current pop star.

1. She's a younger Susan Boyle. A singer who is preoccupied with vocal passion rather than visual image.

2. She seems real. There's no artifice or manufactured image. She's nervous and normal -- except for her gift of a great voice.

3. Her album bucks the trends. No Auto-Tune, special guests or dance beats.

4. She has multi-generational appeal. Everyone from the iPod generation to baby boomers is buying her music.