HELLO FROM THE PODIUM
Adele cleans up with five Grammy Awards, Bowie wins big, Beyoncé delivers dazzling performance
Even though Adele flubbed during a live performance at the Grammys, she walked away the belle of the ball: She took home five awards 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 used her speech to honour Beyoncé and her groundbreaking “Lemonade” album, which was also nominated.
“The way you make my friends feel, the way you make my black friends feel is empowering,” Adele said at the Staples Center when accepting album of the year.
“I adore you. You move my soul everyday ... I adore you and I want you to be my mommy,” Adele said to a pregnant Beyoncé just minutes before picking up song of the year for Hello.
The singer had started, stopped and then restarted her rendition of Fastlove in a musical tribute to the late singer-songwriter George Michael, who died on Christmas Day.
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. She was introduced by her mother and former stylist, Tina Knowles: “Ladies and gentlemen, with my mother’s pride, my daughter, Beyoncé.”
Beyoncé sang on top of a long table, even leaning back on a chair while singing Love Drought. She later sang Sandcastles while sitting down in a chair that tilted alarmingly backward, hitting high notes.
She earned a loud applause from the audience.
Beyoncé won best music video (Formation) and urban contemporary album (Lemonade).
David Bowie’s Blackstar won all five awards it was nominated for. Bowie, who died last year from cancer, won three in the pre-telecast, and was awarded best rock song for Blackstar during the live show.
Blackstar also won best alternative music album, rock performance, and engineered album, non-classical (Bowie is listed as one of the engineers on Blackstar). The final Grammy went to Blackstar’s graphic designer for best recording package.
Mars and his groovy band gave a memorable performance of Prince’s Let’s Go Crazy in a tribute to the Minneapolis musician who died last year. Prince’s rivals, The Time, also performed.
Chance the Rapper won the first award in the live telecast for best new artist. He also won best rap album.
James Corden, hosting the Grammys for the first time, rapped some of his monologue at the top of the show, name-dropping Prince, Rihanna and Toronto’s Drake.
Twenty One Pilots won best pop duo/group performance for the hit Stressed Out. They removed their pants when accepting the award in homage to their earlier days when they watched the Grammys at home in their boxers.
The Grammys generally avoided political statements for most of the show — until A Tribe Called Quest took the stage late in the evening.
Busta Rhymes repeatedly called President Donald Trump “President Agent Orange” as the group sharply criticized Trump’s recent executive order attempting to freeze immigration from several Muslim majority countries and called it a “Muslim ban.”
The gremlins keep showing up, but there was no do-over for Metallica after its frontman’s microphone failed during the group’s performance with Lady Gaga.
James Hetfield was singing at the start of the performance, but no audio was coming from his microphone.
Lady Gaga’s vocals came through loud-and-clear while Hetfield’s microphone continued to malfunction. It didn’t stop the highoctane show.
Drake, who didn’t attend the live show, won best rap song and rap/ sung performance for the smash hit, Hotline Bling.
Other Canadian winners included Bernie Herms, a London, Ont.-born and Edmonton-raised songwriter, who won for best contemporary Christian music performance or song for Thy Will by Hillary Scott and the Scott Family.
Scott, who is a singer in Lady Antebellum, also won best contemporary Christian music album for Love Remains, which features Herms’s song.
Vancouver electronic duo Bob Moses also won the Grammy for best remixed recording for Tearing Me Up (RAC Remix) by Andre Allen Anjos.