90s music star who had one of the decade’s biggest hits unrecognisable after over 30 years

Adamski performing on stage at Glastonbury in 1990
Adamski looks entirely different now (Picture: Mick Hutson/Redferns/Getty Images)

A 90s music star who had one of the biggest hits of the decade looks entirely different now, more than 30 years later.

Adamski, real name Adam Paul Tinley, rose to fame with Killer in 1990, collaborating with musician Seal.

It reached the number one spot on the UK Singles Chart, and sold over 400,000 copies.

Adamski also had success with his first single N-R-G, and shifted focus to his DJ career in the late 90s, where he was also known under the moniker Adam Sky.

More recently, the now-56-year-old has released music featuring the likes of Boy George and Nina Hagen, and continues to keep fans up to date with his latest tracks on Instagram.

In a recent interview, Adamski spoke about creating Killer with Seal, saying his rise to fame came unexpectedly.

‘It wasn’t even my plan to make a break through in the rave scene,’ he said.

Adamski DJing onstage
Adamski rose to fame DJing in the 90s (Picture: REX/Shutterstock)

Adamski wearing a leopard print shirt and glasses taking a selfie
More than 30 years later, he’s still creating music (Picture: adamskiofficial/INSTAGRAM)

Adamski wearing a black jumper and pointing at a rainbow in the sky
Adamski keeps fans updated on social media (Picture: adamskiofficial/INSTAGRAM)

Speaking to Chris Hawkins on the How To DJ podcast, Adamski went on to say how he wasn’t prepared for the success he would have.

‘I was still getting my rent paid by the council and I was on number one, it happened so fast.

‘I mean, obviously I wanted to do well and I was excited that I was, but there would be all these people that just seemed like characters from movies.

‘I didn’t really know these people existed, these sort of low life people in the drug world and people in the music business, even worse.

Adamski and Seal standing with their arms around each other and smiling
Adamski and Seal collaborated to create Killer in 1990 (Picture: Dave Benett/Getty Images)

Adamski holding his hands up wearing yellow and pink gloves. He is also wearing a beige fur coat and a black patterned scarf. He has a cross on his head and his eyebrows dyed pink
Adamski has spoken about how he was not prepared for his success (Picture: adamskiofficial/INSTAGRAM)

‘Just these sleazy people that like live their life fleecing and duping people and coming from the New Forest, coming from a little town in the New Forest, I was just so, so naïve that I just didn’t know how to deal with it all.’

And despite hitting fame all those years ago, where he brushed shoulders with the likes of Sir Elton John and even thought of Mick Jones as his ‘roadie’, Adamski’s loyal fans continue to brand him a ‘legend’.

Commenting on a recent social media selfie, @blake99433 wrote: ‘Thank you for producing killer got to be my fav song icl.’

@ernie943 added: ‘Wot a legend.’

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