Adele claims the BRIT Awards 2011 were the "most life changing night" of her life.

The singer performed a particularly heartfelt version of her track 'Someone like You' ' about the breakdown of a relationship with her ex-boyfriend - at the ceremony in February, and said it was a pivotal moment in her career.

Speaking on BBC Radio 1, she explained: "Its' really bizarre, at the BRIT Awards I was so frightened, I've never been so scared in my life, for anything.

"But it ended up being the most life changing night of my life.

"Everyone stood up, I've never been given a standing ovation by my peers and the industry."

Adele added the personal nature of the track left her feeling embarrassed once she had taken the stage for her performance, which also broadcast on live television.

She said: "I was really embarrassed when I was singing that song, because I hate getting emotional about my ex-boyfriend.

"I'm fine about it now, but I realised in them four minutes that I was not fine about it at all, so I got embarrassed live, on television in front of five million people, so that's when I broke down and everybody stood up."

Adele has recently recovered from a haemorrhage on her vocal chords and laryngitis- which forced her to pull out of a string of US dates ' and will return to performing this week.