Country singer Tanner Adell thought she knew the story of her adoption until a surprise DNA match turned everything upside down. What started as a routine ancestry test one Christmas unraveled years of assumptions, a heartbreaking family secret, and an emotional journey of self-discovery that inspired a very personal song, Going Blonde.
“Hey, my name is Joe, and I think you’re my sister.”
That was the message that changed everything.
For years, Adell believed she was the result of her birth mother’s affair. It was a story she had made peace with: her mother had stepped out on her marriage, gotten pregnant, and given her up for adoption while her husband was deployed. A messy situation, but one she had accepted.
But then came the DNA test. And Joe. And the realization that everything she thought she knew was wrong.
Adell, who was adopted and raised in Manhattan Beach, California, took to Instagram in an emotional, tear-filled three-part post on March 23 to share her shocking discovery. In her first post, she explains that she and her adopted siblings received Ancestry DNA kits one Christmas. When she got a message from a man named Joe claiming to be her brother, she didn’t think much of it. She had heard whispers that she had half-siblings out there, so it wasn’t surprising.
Then they got to talking. Comparing photos. Laughing about their similar hand shapes and matching freckles. And then, the bombshell: they weren’t half-siblings. They were full biological siblings.
Adell’s emotions came flooding out as she processed the truth. But before she could reach out for answers, she was hit with another devastating blow: her birth mother had passed away five years earlier. There would be no heart-to-heart. No explanation. Just questions left hanging in the air.
“I started to realize how blonde hair felt like protection from my mom. It felt like she’s there with me,” Adell said on Instagram. “And that was when I was like, ‘Oh, I’m going blonde.’ I made my first-ever hair coloring appointment, and I got my hair done.”
Turning pain into art, Adell poured her emotions into her new single, Going Blonde. The song captures her journey of self-reflection, the heartache of unanswered questions, and the bittersweet nature of discovering the truth too late. It’s raw, it’s real, and it’s a testament to the power of music as a form of healing.
