"Someone like You" is a song recorded by English singer-songwriter Adele. She and Dan Wilson wrote and produced the track for her second studio album, 21 (2011). XL Recordings released the song as the second single from the album on 24 January 2011 (the same day the album was released) in the United Kingdom and on 9 August 2011 in the United States. Accompanied only by a piano in the song (played by co-writer Wilson), Adele sings about the end of the relationship with her ex-partner who has moved on with someone else.

"Someone like You" received universal critical acclaim, with reviewers choosing it as a highlight of 21 and praised the lyrics, its simple sound and Adele's vocal performance. It became a global success, topping the charts in nineteen countries and reaching the top 10 in various other regions. Following a universally acclaimed performance of the song at the 31st Brit Awards, it became Adele's first number-one single in the UK and stayed atop the chart for five weeks, and was the best-selling single of the year in the region, as well as in Ireland and Italy. It also became Adele's second number one in the US, making her the first British female solo artist in history to have two Billboard Hot 100 number ones from the same album. In July 2011, it became the first single of the decade to be certified 6× Platinum in both the UK and US. It is also certified Diamond in Canada. As of October 2025, the song has 2.4 billion streams on Spotify, making it her most-streamed song on the platform.

The song's music video was directed by Jake Nava and filmed in Paris, France, showing Adele walking alone through the streets. Critics praised the video for being simple and perfect for the sound of the song. As of September 2025, the video has 2.3 billion views on YouTube. She added "Someone Like You" to the set list of her second tour Adele Live. The song has been covered by various artists, including the cast of the series Glee. The official music video was uploaded to YouTube on 30 September 2011.

In 2012, "Someone like You" was voted the third-favourite number-one single of the last 60 years in the UK. "Someone like You" appeared on many year-end lists about the best songs of 2011, and was the inaugural recipient of the Grammy Award for Best Pop Solo Performance, at the 54th ceremony in 2012. The song also received a nomination for the Brit Award for British Single at the 32nd ceremony and also several other nominations. , "Someone like You" is the fourth best-selling single of the 21st century and is the 36th-best-selling single in the history of the UK Singles Chart. "Someone Like You" has also been crowned as the UK's most popular karaoke selection for 2011 and 2012.

Writing and inspiration

"Someone like You" is about a boyfriend who broke up with Adele. She wrote it with American songwriter and producer Dan Wilson. It was one of the last songs written for 21. The track, which epitomizes the lyrical content of 21, summarizes the now defunct relationship that the record is all about. Adele has openly discussed the genesis of it saying, "Well, I wrote that song because I was exhausted from being such a bitch, with 'Rolling in the Deep' or 'Rumour Has It' ... I was really emotionally drained from the way I was portraying him, because even though I'm very bitter and regret some parts of it, he's still the most important person that's ever been in my life, and 'Someone like You,' I had to write it to feel OK with myself and OK with the two years I spent with him. And when I did it, I felt so freed."

Adele revealed that she was struggling emotionally when she composed it: "When I was writing it I was feeling pretty miserable and pretty lonely, which I guess kind of contradicts 'Rolling in the Deep'. Whereas that was about me saying, 'I'm going to be fine without you', this is me on my knees really." She discussed further the inspiration of the song: "I can imagine being about 40 and looking for him again, only to turn up and find that he's settled with a beautiful wife and beautiful kids and he's completely happy... and I'm still on my own. The song's about that and I'm scared at the thought of that."

Adele had said that she began writing it on her acoustic guitar in the wake of the break-up of her 18-month relationship with the 30-year-old man she thought she would marry. A few months after their split, he was engaged to someone else. "We were so intense I thought we would get married. But that was something he never wanted... So when I found out he does want that with someone else, it was just the horrible-est feeling ever. But after I wrote it, I felt more at peace. It set me free... I didn't think it would resonate... with the world! I'm never gonna write a song like that again. I think that's the song I'll be known for." She also said that "I wrote that song on the end of my bed. I had a cold. I was waiting for my bath to run. I'd found out that he'd got engaged to someone else."

Recording and composition

Adele took these rudimentary lyrical and musical ideas to the recording session with Wilson, where the two sat around the piano to try out various melodies and lyrics.Adkins, Adele. KMTT. Personal Interview by Shawn Stewart. December 2010. They decided to keep the musical production sparse: "We just wrote it on the piano and then we recorded it when it was written. It wasn't sort of like recording it and listening to it thinking 'where can we go next?' It was really old school." During an interview with Billboard, Wilson stated that while writing the song, they wanted to make it as personal as possible. He added "We didn't try to make it open-ended so it could apply to 'anybody.' We tried to make it as personal as possible. She may not have had a melodic hook or a specific lyrical idea, but she always knew what she wanted to say. She definitely had a master plan." The song was recorded at Harmony Studios in West Hollywood, California with Wilson playing piano and Philip Allen as engineer. The mixing was done by Tom Elmhirst and Dan Parry while the mastering was finished by Tom Coyne.

According to sheet music published at Musicnotes.com by Sony Music Publishing, "Someone like You" is a slow tempo of 67.5 beats per minute. Written in common time, the song is in the key of A major. The song follows three chord progressions. Adele's vocal range spans from F3 to E5 during the song. A slow, plaintive ballad pairing Adele's voice with a looping piano line, "Someone like You" is the lyrical opposite of "Rolling in the Deep" on which the singer narrates coming to terms with the end of the relationship: "Nevermind, I'll find someone like you/I wish nothing but the best for you, too/Don't forget me, I beg/I'll remember you said/Sometimes it lasts in love, but sometimes it hurts instead." According to Sean Fennessey of The Village Voice, the singer's "nuanced" voice goes up a full octave and "into a near-shrieked whisper" as she sings parts of the chorus. However, she "rebounds and gathers herself", and her voice descends into its fuller and more melancholy state. Critics praised its introspective lyrics and maturity. "Someone like You" has been compared to the song "Hometown Glory" (2008) from the album 19. John Murphy of MusicOMH said that the song "casts Adele as the spurned lover, turning up outside her ex's house, now moved on and settled down, begging for a second chance." According to Aamir Yaqub of Soul Culture, "Talking of a lost love, this an extremely touching track with a vocal performance that makes the narrative almost tangible ... It really captures the experience of the story and puts it across in both a credible and incredible fashion." Cameron Adams of Herald Sun called the song a "spine-tingling sparse piano ballad."

Lyrically, the song talks about the end of Adele's first "real relationship", which was with her long-time friend and lover, and it shows her confronting his marriage. At the beginning of the song, she sings the lines "I heard that you're settled down/That you found a girl and you're married now. I heard that your dreams came true/Guess she gave you things I couldn't give to you" with a soft voice and accompanied just by a simple piano melody. The lyrics of "Someone like You" are talking about what once was and what could have been as stated by a writer of Daily Herald. Finding the strength to bounce back from hardship and heartache, Adele sings the lines, "Never mind, I'll find someone like you. I wish nothing but the best for you, too/Don't forget me, I beg, I remember you said/Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead." Talking about the meaning and the composition of the song, Jer Fairall of PopMatters said: "The song's subject—Adele mentally addressing an old lover who has since found happiness elsewhere—is familiar, but the detail she colors it with are vibrantly tactile and resonant, from the sense-memory setting of 'we were born and raised in a summer haze' to her recollection of his cruel kiss-off line 'I remember you said, 'sometimes it lasts in love and sometimes it hurts instead and how she comes to take solace in the statement as an empowering mantra." During her concert tour in August 2024, Adele revealed that this song had changed her life.

Critical reception Upon release, the song received widespread acclaim from music critics, with many citing it as the highlight of 21. In a track-by-track review for 21, Joanne Dorken of MTV UK noted the track's placement at the end of the album saying, "It maybe a cliché, but Adele has saved the best until last with this heartfelt and enchanting piano ballad. ... It's sad but beautiful and displays Adele at her best – marking the perfect end to what has been in our eyes, a faultless album." Will Dean of The Guardian claimed the song was the album's "highlight", characterizing it as "gorgeous". That was echoed by Slant Magazines Matthew Cole who also called the song "gorgeous". NMEs Chris Parkin also marked the song as a highlight, describing it as "surprisingly weighty" and comparing it favorably to the work of American Country blues singer Karen Dalton.

Tom Breihan of Pitchfork Media selected "Someone like You" as a song of the day, claiming it served as a reaffirmation of popular music: "Sometimes, pop music can still break your heart." Writing for BBC Online, Ian Wade noted that the "final track Someone Like You, just voice and piano, is an actual thing of beauty, placing the listener in one of those moments where you feel you're in the presence of a future standard." Bill Lamb of About.com wrote that "the piano melody is gorgeous and combined with Adele's heartfelt reading of her words, the effect is highly emotional. You can imagine it being both honked through by talent show contestants and transcended by veterans alike." Lamb went to write that the song is one of the "top songs of 2011" and that "romantic pain has rarely been so utterly beautiful." Jer Fairall of PopMatters called the song "absolute magic" and praised Adele's performance by saying, "Though it is unquestionably her finest vocal showcase to date, it is less remarkable for its more powerful moments than for the small ones where her voice dips, with rueful melancholy on the line 'I heard that your dreams came true' or cracks on the 'I beg' in the chorus, like she's startled at the revelation of her own vulnerability." He further called her vocal performance of the song "stunning" and "finally worthy of her talents".