Grammy Awards 2017: the 56th Annual Grammy Awards
IT was a night of triumphs and disappointments for the two biggest divas of our time, who together dominated the 2017 Grammy Awards.
Grammy Awards
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ADELE won all the awards but Beyonce remained the Queen of the 2017 Grammys.
The tearful British superstar paid tribute to the beloved “Queen B”, as she called her, suggesting the Album of the Year gong should have gone to her for the groundbreaking Lemonade record instead of Adele’s 25.
AS IT HAPPENED: Relive the key moments from the Grammys
RED CARPET: All the standout looks from Grammys 2017
THE SHOCKERS: The worst red carpet looks
She declared Beyonce was the “artist of my life” after revealing she continues to struggle “being a mum; it’s really hard.”
“All us artists, we f ... ing adore you,” Adele said, dropping her second F bomb on stage for the night.
“I love you and I always have.”
Adele and Beyonce had been pitted against each other in the major categories, with the British golden-voiced star also taking out Song and Record Of The Year with her post-baby break smash Hello.
After a series of pedestrian performances to open the show, Beyonce wowed the awards assisted by her beautiful bump and a cameo by her daughter Blue.
Introduced by her proud mother Tina Knowles, who was celebrating Grammys win by both her daughters Beyonce and Solange, the Formation star began her performance with a stunning video and hologram package.
The crowd erupted when the spotlight finally landed on her in-person, looking like a golden goddess with a crown of flowers and flowing dress.
There was a collective gasp in the Staples Centre and from millions of fans worldwide as the chair Beyonce was singing in tilted back horizontally. No twins were harmed in the making of this dazzling choreography.
Some of the performance was augmented by a dazzling video similar to the visuals she showcased on her Formation tour.
In one scene, multiple Blue Ivy ran around Beyonce and then all the significant women in her life including Tina Knowles sat around her.
After slaying the Grammys with that mesmerising, multimedia performance of Love Drought and Sandcastles, Beyonce owned the stage with her speech to accept the Best Urban Contemporary Album award for Lemonade.
She took a moment to recognise her gorgeous daughter Blue Ivy — who was doing her fair share of stealing the show from the front row — saying “Hi Baby’ before making a gracious, gently political speech after being a role model for her children.
Beyonce said she wanted them to “see themselves and have no doubt they are beautiful, intelligent and capable. This is something I want for every child of every race.”
Earlier, both Adele and Metallica were cursed by vocal glitches during their performances.
It was the second time Adele has suffered on the Grammys stage, dramatically stopping her tribute to George Michael and asking to start again as she struggled to find the right pitch for her orchestral version of Fast Love.
“I can’t mess this up for him,” she told the audience after dropping the F bomb and apologising for swearing.
Her courage was rewarded with a standing ovation from the room and lots of love on social media from supportive fans applauding the acclaimed singer for being human.
Poor Metallica weren’t even introduced by Orange Is The New Black star Laverne Cox for their performances featuring special guest Lady Gaga.
Cox shouted out for Gaga, perhaps jinxing the metal legends with frontman James Hetfield’s mic failing to function and only the Bad Romance singer’s vocals heard for the first minute.
Gaga then had to share her mic with the Metallica frontman.
Hetfield showed his displeasure by throwing his guitar offstage at the end of the performance.
A pissed off James Hetfield tosses his guitar 😡😡😡😡😡 #Metallica #GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/6BXzFvnFZR
— Troy Hughes™ (@TommySledge) February 13, 2017
Earlier, Lady Gaga didn’t disappoint with her last-minute Grammys grand entrance, sporting what looked like a leftover set of shoulder pads from her Super Bowl performance last week.
Showing off a significant under-boob, Gaga looked relaxed as she strutted the red carpet on stratospheric boots ahead of her performance with Metallica.
Also making her return to the awards stage is Katy Perry who stirred the outrage of Britney Spears fans when she remarked “And I haven’t shaved my head yet,” on the red carpet when explaining she took time out of the spotlight for her “mental health”.
Katy Perry making fun of Britney's mental breakdown at the #GRAMMYs Red Carpet. Yikes. That was so wrong.
— Paula | Lady Gaga (@Paula_PawsUp) February 13, 2017
While the ladies including Gaga, JLo and Demi Lovato got everyone talking about the red carpet with their cleavage-bearing costumes, the early performances may have sounded great but were lacking a pulse.
Adele exercised her golden tonsils with her smash hit Hello, The Weeknd paired with Daft Punk — looking like Darth Vaders — for I Feel It Coming and Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood attempted to rock out on their chart-topper The Fighter.
But the presenters got tongues wagging early. Paris Jackson quoted her father to introduce The Weeknd and sunglass-wearing John Travolta had to throw away his script to welcome Urban and Underwood to the stage because he couldn’t read the teleprompter.
Joking that the font on his phone is “so big that everyone laughs at me”, Travolta admitted he couldn’t make out the words on the prompter.
“But I am excited to be here. Later in the show we will honour the Bee Gees and Saturday Night Fever,” Travolta riffed before pulling a card out to check the names of the artists he was about to introduce.
RECOGNITION FOR BOWIE
Ahead of the televised awards, dozens of winners were announced including Australian dance guru Flume for Best Dance Album and the late David Bowie.
It was Bowie’s first ever music awards at the Grammys. He had previously been recognised for a 1985 short film and with a lifetime achievement trophy in 2006.
The five posthumous trophies for Bowie’s final album Blackstar included best rock song, best alternative music album, rock performance — where Bowie beat Beyonce and Jack White — and engineered album, non-classical, where Bowie won over Prince who was nominated alongside Australian Justin Stanley for the HITnRUN Phase 2 record. He is also up for Best Rock Song which will be announced on the televised awards.
Other Grammys favourites who have already opened their 2017 awards account include multiple nominees Adele for best pop vocal album (25) and pop solo performance (Hello), Beyonce for best music video (Formation) and Drake for best rap song and rap/sung performance for the smash hit Hotline Bling.
PRE-GRAMMYS GIFT FOR PRINCE FANS
Hours before the Grammys kicked off, fans of legendary superstar Prince converged online as his revered catalogue returned to streaming services as a pre-Grammys gift.
True believers have waited for 18 months to turn the cyber airwaves all purple after Prince yanked his music offline in 2015 to warehouse it exclusively on the artist-friendly site Tidal.
While fans have welcomed the return of Prince’s music to the popular streaming sites including Spotify and Apple, the rocker himself would probably have been furious considering the war he waged for artist digital rights before his sudden death last year.
The Prince song flood on streaming sites coincided with the Grammys and the awards’ tribute to the seminal pop star., rumoured to star Bruno Mars and Purple Rain co-stars Time.
It comes as Warner Bros Records confirms a raid of the Paisley Park vault to release a remastered version of his classic Purple Rain album, two records of unreleased songs and two concert films on June 9.
“Prince recorded his most influential and popular music during his time with Warner Bros. and we are deeply aware of our responsibility to safeguard and nurture his incredible legacy,” Warner chairman Cameron Strang said in a statement.
“Warner Bros. is thrilled to be able to bring Prince’s music to his millions of fans around the world via streaming services, fittingly on music’s biggest night.”
Some pundits speculated Prince’s estate — which is in a legal stoush with Jay-Z’s Tidal over whether they do in fact have exclusive rights to stream his music — need funds to pay a tax bill.
Prince, who was a campaigner for artist rights for more than three decades, took his music off Spotify and other services not long after Taylor Swift famously yanked her music off Spotify to drive sales, rather than streams, of her 1989 album.
ALL THE WINNERS YOU NEED TO KNOW
Best New Artist — Chance The Rapper
Song Of The Year — Adele, Hello
Record Of The Year — Adele, Hello
Album Of The Year — Adele, 25
Best Dance/Electronica Album — Flume, New Skin
Best Pop Vocal Album — Adele, 25
Best Dance Recording — The Chainsmokers feat. Daya, Don’t Let Me Down
Best Alternative Album, David Bowie, Blackstar
Best Music Video — Beyonce, Formation
Best Rap Song — Drake, Hotline Bling
Best Pop Solo Performance — Adele, Hello
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance — Twenty One Pilots, Stressed Out
Best Rock Performance — David Bowie, Blackstar
Best R & B Performance — Cranes In The Sky, Solange
Best Rock Song — David Bowie, Blackstar
Best Rap Album — Chance The Rapper, Coloring Book
Best Rap Performance — Chance the Rapper Featuring Lil Wayne & 2 Chainz, No Problem
Originally published as Grammy Awards 2017: the 56th Annual Grammy Awards
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