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 Beyonc? 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 Beyonc? and her groundbreaking “Lemonade” album, which was also nominated. Backstage, she told press she voted for Beyonc? 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 Beyonc?. This album you made, the ‘Lemonade’ album, is so monumental,” Adele said to her fellow singer 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 and support from the crowd, though Adele was teary eyed.
Michael died 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.” The Time — who worked closely with Prince — brought the audience to its feet with funky performances of “Jungle Love” and “The Bird.”
“Make some noise for Prince y’all,” Mars yelled.
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, Beyonc? was the talk of the show. In glittery gown, gilded crown and gold choker, a pregnant Beyonc? 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, Beyonc?.”
Beyonc? sang on top of a long table and later sang while sitting down in a chair that tilted alarmingly backward, still hitting high notes. She performed the songs “Sandcastles” and “Love Drought.”
She earned a loud applause from the audience, including daughter Blue Ivy and husband Jay Z. Beyonc?, 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 Beyonc?, 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.”
Beyonc?’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.
