The big winner of the night was Adele, who took home the awards for Album of the Year, Record of the Year, and Best Pop Vocal Album for 25, as well as Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance for Hello. Chance the Rapper took home a few statues as well — for Best New Artist, Best Rap Performance for No Problem, and Best Rap Album for Coloring Book. To the surprise of many, including Adele herself, Beyonce only took home one award for Lemonade — Best Urban Contemporary Album — despite leading the pack in terms of nominations. “Queen Bey” also won Best Music Video for Formation, and received plenty of attention for her artistic, Medusa-like, Kanye-esque performance, the anticipated baby bump reveal. She also earned high praise from Adele.
The late David Bowie took home awards for Best Rock Song for Blackstar and Best Alternative Music Album for his final record of the same name. The Chainsmokers’ Don’t Let Me Down won for Best Dance Recording. Twenty One Pilots accepted their award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for Stressed Out in their underwear. The reason? Before they were famous, they would watch the Grammys in their boxers at home, and promised one another that if they ever made it big and won a Grammy, they’d accept it in that same way. Cute.
Other winners included Drake’s Hotline Bling for Best Rap Song and Best Rap/Sung Performance; Tell Me I’m Pretty by Cage the Elephant for Best Rock Album; Lake By the Ocean by Maxwell for Best R&B Song; Dystopia by Megadeth for Best Metal Performance; Lalah Hathaway Live for Best R&B Album; Maren Morris for My Church for Best Country Solo Performance; and Sturgill Simpson’s A Sailor’s Guide to Earth for Best Country Album.
The various tribute performances were the highlight of the ceremony, which was hosted by James Corden. Most notably, Adele’s rendition of George Michael’s Fast Love. While it was a lovely performance, Adele shocked the crowd by stopping about 30 seconds in, cursing, and asking the band to start over. I’m sorry,” she repeatedly said. “I just can’t screw this up.”
Demi Lovato, Tori Kelly, Andra Day, and Little Big Town took the stage to perform iconic Bee Gees tunes in celebration of the 40th anniversary of Saturday Night Fever. A delighted Barry Gibb was seen singing along from the audience. Two of the most rousing performances came from Lady Gaga, who rocked out as frontwoman for Metallica (her performance was highlighted even more since frontman James Hetfield’s mic was not working), and Bruno Mars, who gave a purple- and guitar-infused tribute performance to the late Prince.
Check out the Grammy website for a list of all of the winners.
