Life wasn’t always a fairy tale for superstar singer Adele, who was raised by her single mom after her father walked out on the family when she was just 3 years old.

Now, In Touch has exclusively obtained a first look at the new biography Adele: The Biography, exposing the Grammy winner’s rocky past, including personal struggles with drinking and men long before she skyrocketed to worldwide fame.

“It’s a classic rags to riches,” the author, Marc Shapiro, tells In Touch in an exclusive interview. In the biography, which will be released by St. Martin’s Press on July 17, Marc reveals that her father was an alcoholic whose alcoholism nearly killed him. “Her relationship with her father is dead and gone,” Shapiro says.

And although her mother, Penny Adkins, remained a loving figure in her life, Adele also found herself searching for the affection she never got from her father. Shapiro writes that the singer’s first love was a bisexual boy who broke her fragile heart by cheating. “She loved the drama surrounding boys who treated her badly,” Shapiro tells In Touch.

In the book, the author reveals the relationship was so volatile that "Adele would drink more than normal to salve the heartbreak."

Drinking became a problem for this singer-songwriter daughter, who drank so much and so often early in her career. The book contains parts of an interview with Adele talking about a particular concert where she had fallen off a stool in a drunken stupor. Adele had said of the dark period, "I got so drunk by the time I went on at 2 a.m. I had forgotten the words to my own songs… It was the worst thing ever." Shapiro notes, “Midway through her first tour, she allegedly had a drinking problem."

Have a tip? Send it to us! Email In Touch at contact@intouchweekly.com.