BRIT AWARDS - RISING UK SENSATION ADELE SIGNS DEAL TO CRACK AMERICA

Rising British star Adele has signed a deal for her debut album to be released in the United States.

The 19-year-old singer will attempt to crack the notoriously difficult stateside market with her album 19 this summer.

Columbia Records are behind the deal in a joint venture with XL Recordings.

Adele is currently on a mini-tour of North American venues, which includes two sold-out shows at New York's Joe's Pub and a sold-out appearance at the Hotel Cafe in Los Angeles.

She is also attempting to make her mark in Canada, with appearances in Montreal and a sold-out show at Rivoli in Toronto.

In the UK Adele is one of the most successful new female artists, with the Brit Awards' Critics Choice prize handed to her in December 2007.

She has also been named as the winner of BBC Music's' Sound of 2008 poll, an accolade previously given to Mika, Keane and Corinne Bailey Rae.

Her debut album's lead-in single, Chasing Pavements, became the UK's number one airplay single and 19 entered the UK Album Chart at number one while reaching the top ten on the Irish album chart (number three), the Dutch Album Chart (number four), Billboard's European top albums chart (number six) and the United World Chart (number eight).

19 has since gone platinum.