Emotional Adele 'overwhelmed' by fans' support

Soul superstar Adele is feeling "so overwhelmed" by the love and support of her fans as she releases her new album 25.

The singer made her surprise chart comeback last month (Oct15), when she dropped Hello, her first single since James Bond theme song Skyfall in 2012. It shot to number one around the world, and became the biggest-selling track of the past three years in her native U.K., while the accompanying black-and-white promo set a new viewing record after racking up 100 million hits on Vevo.com in just five days.

On Friday (20Nov15), Adele released 25, the much-anticipated follow-up to her 2011 project, 21, and as fans flocked to purchase the album, she took to social media to express her gratitude in an emotional note to her followers.

"This feels like such a long time coming, my new album is finally out," she writes. "I am so overwhelmed and grateful to be able to even put another record out, and put it out how I want.

"The last month has been a whirlwind, its (sic) literally taken my breath away. I hope you enjoy the record as much as I enjoyed making it for you. See you on the other side... love, Adele".

The singer's message comes a day after it emerged 25 would not be made available on Internet streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music, in favor of a more traditional release.

"We love and respect Adele, as do her 24 million fans on Spotify," a Spotify spokesman said in a statement on Thursday (19Nov15). "We hope that she will give those fans the opportunity to enjoy 25 on Spotify alongside 19 and 21 very soon."

Adele, who underwent an operation on her vocal cords in 2011, is unlikely to need the boost from online streaming sites - her new album is already expected to become the year's fastest and biggest seller.

The Rolling in the Deep star has been busy promoting the new material in the past few weeks, and she performed her first U.S. show since 2011 on Tuesday (17Nov15), when she graced the stage at New York's Radio City Music Hall. The concert, which was filmed for an upcoming U.S. TV special, drew an A-list crowd, with guests including Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper, Steven Spielberg and U.S. presidential hopeful Donald Trump.