Adele won the trifecta – album of the year, record of the year, and song of the year – at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles Sunday night, beating out Beyonce in all three categories. When she won the record of the year, Adele said, “My dream and my idol is Queen B and I want you to be my mommy.”
Earlier in the show, Beyonce delivered a performance that was an ode to motherhood with her twin-carrying baby bump featured prominently. Beyonce won the Grammy for best urban contemporary album for Lemonade.
Adele also won in the best pop solo performance and best pop vocal album categories.
The annual music awards show is known as music’s biggest night and Sunday’s show did not disappoint. It was loaded with show-stopping performances and tributes – Lady Gaga performed with Metallica, while Bruno Mars sounded eerily like the late Prince. Adele sang a tribute to the late George Michael, stopping her performance near the beginning because of a technical issue. She began again after telling the audience, “I can’t mess this up for him,” referring to Michael.
Chance the Rapper won in three categories, including best new artist, without selling a single CD or download. The 23-year-old rapper released his music only through streaming.
The late David Bowie’s performance on his song Blackstar won him Grammys for best rock performance and best rock song.
Solange, Beyonce’s little sister, won the best rhythm and blues performance for Cranes in the Sky.
The best country song performance nod went to Maren Morris for My Church. Morris said in her acceptance speech that 11 years ago, she was a participant in the first Grammy Camp, which teaches young people about the music business.
This year’s show was hosted by James Corden.
Unlike the Golden Globes earlier the year, 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 Busta Rhymes called it a “Muslim ban.”
The rappers repeatedly chanted, “We the people” and ended their performance shouting “Resist! Resist! Resist!” – something that’s become a rallying cry for those protesting Trump’s policies.
Trump had been referenced but rarely mentioned earlier in the show.
Katy Perry’s performance did include several political messages and the displaying of the preamble of the Constitution.
But unlike last month’s Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Awards, Trump wasn’t a fixture of acceptance speeches.
Some material for this report came from the Associated Press.
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