Beyoncé isn’t the only diva who is famously reluctant to give interviews to the press.

In what probably felt like forever, Adele is not only back with a new album due in a month but also her first interview in three years. In an interview for i-D magazine, she finally answered everybody’s question: What happened?

“I was being a [mom]. I couldn’t rush it. And you’ve got to give people a chance to miss you,” she said. But above everything else, her primary reason was more personal, internal even. “I don’t know why I wasn’t ready. I just couldn’t access myself.

Even with that amount of time that she had remained silent, the 27-year-old musician was compared to superstars like the Kardashians who “spend [so much time] online to upkeep Brand Kardashian” and the Ellie Gouldings of this world who “are constantly on Twitter, ensuring fans are able to engage [with them].” So does Adele hate fame?

“I’m just frightened of it, you know? Frightened of it destroying me and it ruining me,” she shared. “It’s a bit toxic, fame. I’ve got enough toxins in my body, I don’t need any of that!” But above everything else, she revealed what she’s scared of the most: “I get frightened for the people that I love, feeling like they’ve lost me.” With that, she chose to live a low-key life. “No one wants to listen to a record from someone that’s lost touch with reality.”

Those three long years weren’t for nothing. With her most recent song “Hello” already racking up 27.7 millions views just on its first day (beating out Taylor Swift’s 20.1 million record) and skyrocketing to the number spot in charts, things are shaping up for her next album 25.

Unlike her first two studio albums which were focused on soul and R&B, 25 comes with contemporary pop overtures with a ’70s nod. But to set the record straight, the album isn’t about heartbreaks. It’s about getting older and nostalgic. “It’s about what was, what is, what might have been. It’s about missing things that you had no idea were so precious,” Adele said, still promising the same amount of tears one has shed while listening to 21.

“I wanted to fix people’s hearts,” says the British singer as she looked back on her younger days when she wanted to be a heart surgeon. Though that dream didn’t quite pan out, Adele’s mom assures her, “You are a surgeon. You’re fixing people’s hearts.

And we might just get our own Adele fix by the time 25 comes out.

[i-D]

Photo courtesy of i-D