Adele’s manager, the puppetmaster behind the biggest story in music, runs the firm September Management; he was introduced to Adele by A&R exec Nick Huggett, who signed her to XL Recordings. Dickins began working with her in 2006, shortly before her XL deal was inked.

He won the Manager of the Year trophy at the U.K.’s Music Week Awards in 2012 (presented to him by Adele, fittingly enough); his other clients have included Jamie T, London Grammar, Jack Peñate and Tom Vek. Adele has said she didn’t want to meet with any other managers after meeting with him.

Dickins hails from a British music-biz family of long standing. His grandfather, Percy Dickins, was a co-founder of the seminal music mag NME in 1952 and developed the first pop record sales charts. His father, Barry Dickins, is co-Managing Director (with Rod MacSween) of top agency ITB and one of the country most successful booking agents, having worked with Bob Dylan, Neil Young and Diana Ross, among other luminaries (the company books Adele for the U.K., unsurprisingly; Jonathan’s sister Lucy is the agent). Rob Dickins, Jonathan’s uncle, was chairman at Warner Bros. U.K. for many years, signing Enya and The Corrs, and was twice considered to replace Mo Ostin at Warner/Reprise during the disastrous Morgado-Fuchs era of the mid-’90s.

Jonathan began working with his uncle Rob as an A&R exec at WEA Records U.K., then served under him again while running the label Instant Karma. With his sub-label Showbiz, Jonathan delivered the entity’s first hit, I Monster’s “Daydream in Blue,” which hit No. 20 on the U.K’s Official Singles Chart in June 2001. He moved into management with the rapper M.I.A., getting her signed to XL in 2003.

In 2006, he started September Management, headquartered in a bedroom in his house; Adele was one of the first artists he signed. Adele’s success has led to Jonathan working with her collaborators: September also manages producer-songwriter Paul Epworth.

Dickins was willing to pose with HITS' Karen Glauber, but she couldn't convince him to manage her.