Adele sweeps Grammys
LOS ANGELES — Even though Adele flubbed one of her live performances at the Grammys, she walked away the belle of the ball: She took home all five awards she was nominated for Sunday night, including album, record and song of the year.
She beat Beyoncé in the top three categories with her comeback album “25,” and repeated her accomplishments from 2012, when the British star also won album, song and record of the year at the Grammys. She's the first artist in Grammy history to sweep the top three categories twice, and now has a total of 15 Grammys.
Adele used her speech to honor Beyoncé and her groundbreaking “Lemonade” album, which was also nominated. And backstage, she told press she voted for Beyoncé when putting in her ballot for album of the year.
“But I can't really accept this award. And I'm very humble and I'm very grateful and gracious, but my artist of my life is Beyoncé. This album you made, the 'Lemonade' album, is so monumental,” Adele said to her fellow singer at the Staples Center in Los Angeles when accepting the album of the year trophy. “The way you make me and my friends feel, the way you make my black friends feel is empowering. And they stand up for themselves. And I love you. I always have.”
The night for Adele wasn't all good though: The singer, who had trouble with her live performance at last year's Grammys, asked to restart her tribute to George Michael, telling the audience: “I can't mess this up for him.” She stopped and used an expletive after singing some of a new arrangement of Michael's “Fastlove,” as videos and photos of Michael played in the background. She re-sang the song and earned applause, though Adele was teary eyed.
Michael died on Christmas Day. A number of other icons were honored Sunday, including Prince: Bruno Mars — rocking a glittery, Prince-like purple blazer — worked the guitar like a pro while singing the icon's “Let's Go Crazy.”
Mars was also a winner Sunday — he won for his producing work on Adele's album. Adele's other wins included best pop vocal album and pop solo performance.
Until Adele's abrupt restart, Beyoncé was the talk of the show. In glittery gown, gilded crown and gold choker, a pregnant Beyoncé took the Grammy stage in a lengthy performance of two songs from her critically acclaimed album “Lemonade.”
Beyoncé, who walked into the show with nine nominations, only won two: best music video (“Formation”) and urban contemporary album (“Lemonade”).
“My intention for the film and album is to create a body of work that would give voice to our pain, our struggles, our doubts, and our history, to confront issues that make us uncomfortable. It's important to me to show images to my children that reflect their beauty, so they can grow in a world, where they look in the mirror, first with their own families as well as in the Super Bowl, the Olympics, the White House and the Grammys and see themselves,” said Beyoncé, reading from a card. “This is something that I want for every child of every race, and I feel that it's vital that we learn from the past and recognize our tendencies to repeat our mistakes.”
Beyonce's speech wasn't the only political moment: A Tribe Called Quest, along with Anderson .Paak and Busta Rhymes, gave a rousing performance and shouted “resist, resist!” at their end of the performance, which featured a number of people onstage, including women in hijabs.
Like Adele, David Bowie — who died last year from cancer — won all four awards he was nominated for. “Blackstar,” his final album released days before he died, won best alternative music album and engineered album, non-classical. The title track won best rock song and rock performance.
Select winners at the 2017 Grammy Awards were:Album of the year: “25,” AdeleRecord of the year: “Hello,” AdeleBest new artist: Chance the RapperSong of the year (songwriter's award): “Hello,” Adele and Greg KurstinBest pop solo performance: “Hello,” AdeleBest pop vocal album: “25,” AdeleBest traditional pop vocal album: “Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin,” Willie NelsonBest pop duo or group performance: “Stressed Out,” twenty one pilotsBest dance/electronic album: “Skin,” FlumeBest rock song: “Blackstar,” David BowieBest rock album: “Tell Me I'm Pretty,” Cage the ElephantBest alternative music album: “Blackstar,” David BowieBest R&B album: “Lalah Hathaway Live,” Lalah HathawayBest urban contemporary album: “Lemonade,” BeyonceBest rap album: “Coloring Book,” Chance the RapperBest country album: “A Sailor's Guide to Earth,” Sturgill SimpsonBest country solo performance: “My Church,” Maren MorrisBest jazz vocal album: “Take Me to the Alley,” Gregory PorterBest jazz instrumental album: “Country for Old Men,” John ScofieldBest compilation soundtrack for visual media: “Miles Ahead,” Miles Davis & various artistsProducer of the year, non-classical: Greg KurstinBest music video: “Formation,” Beyonce
