At last night’s Grammy Awards, Adele gave us memorable moments from beginning to end. The show opened on the British powerhouse performing her hit “Hello,” which went on to win Song of the Year and seemed like a bit of sweet redemption after the audio issues that marred her performance last year. Unfortunately, her successful first number didn’t leave her in the clear. Later on, when she took the stage to pay tribute to the late George Michael, she called for a re-do in the midst of singing a slowed-down version of his song “Fastlove.” She’s probably one of the only people who could get away with such a thing on live television, and the performance that followed was Adele in top form.
Before the curtains closed, she offered up one last emotional moment, relinquishing her prize for Album of the Year to Beyoncé through tears. Although Adele (and Twitter) felt she should have taken home the night’s biggest award, Queen B didn’t go home empty handed, collecting trophies for Best Urban Contemporary Album for Lemonade and Best Music Video for “Formation”. In true Beyoncé form, her every move last night was an epic piece of performance art. The pregnant star sang “Love Drought” and “Sandcastles” seated at a table reminiscent of da Vinci’s The Last Supper and dripping in gold. Accepting her award in a gold veil, she said, “It’s important to me to show images to my children that reflect their beauty, so they can grow up in a world where they look in the mirror, first through their own families — as well as the news, the Super Bowl, the Olympics, the White House and the Grammys — and see themselves, and have no doubt that they’re beautiful, intelligent and capable. This is something I want for every child of every race.”
In between the Beyoncé and Adele moments, Chance the Rapper and Twenty One Pilots took home their first Grammys, the latter in their underwear. Ed Sheeran, The Weeknd and Daft Punk, Katy Perry, Alicia Keys and Maren Morris and more performers took the stage and host James Corden orchestrated a makeshift Carpool Karaoke session with Jennifer Lopez, John Legend, Neil Diamond and most importantly, Blue Ivy.
The Time and Bruno Mars executed a meaningful tribute to Prince, with Mars rocking a purple suit and delivering an epic guitar solo. A tribute to the Bee Gees with Demi Lovato, Tori Kelly, Little Big Town and Andra Day was less successful.
On social media, the star of the show was none other than Rihanna, who is quickly becoming a meme after being caught on camera sipping from a jewel-encrusted flask.
Below, see the winners in the biggest categories:
Best new artist: Chance the Rapper
Best pop duo/group performance: “Stressed Out” by Twenty One Pilots
Best rock song: “Blackstar” by David Bowie
Best country solo performance: “My Church” by Maren Morris
Best urban contemporary album: Lemonade by Beyoncé
Best rap album: Coloring Book by Chance the Rapper
Best rap song: “Hotline Bling” by Aubrey Graham and Paul Jefferies
Best rock album: Tell Me I’m Pretty by Cage the Elephant
Best country album: A Sailor’s Guide to Earth by Sturgill Simpson
Song of the year: “Hello” by Adele
Record of the year: “Hello” by Adele
Album of the year: 25 by Adele
For a full list of winners, head to grammy.com.
Main image credit: @recordingacademy
