Adele, Beyonce steal limelight at ‘politically driven’ Grammys
Los Angeles, Feb 13 (IANS) British star Adele clinched as many as five trophies at the 59th annual Grammy Awards, where singer Beyonce Knowles, pregnant with twins, performed with a baby bump like a “Queen” for the first time. There were others who didn’t shy away from slamming US President Donald Trump through their acts, speeches and even their dressing styles.
Adele, who began the award show at the Staples Center here on Sunday night, bagged all the top honours, including categories like Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year and Song Of The Year. She also took home the trophies for Best Pop Solo Performance and Best Pop Vocal Album awards.
What was heart-warming to see was that she refused to take the Album Of The Year honour and said Beyonce deserves it more than her.
“I can’t possibly accept this award, and I’m very humbled and very grateful and gracious but my life is Beyonce, and the album to me, the ‘Lemonade’ album,” she said and added that Beyonce is “empowering” all the black people.
Another highlight of the night was when Beyonce took the stage to perform “Love drought” and “Sandcastles” from her album “Lemonade”, for the first time since announcing her pregnancy. She was introduced on stage by her mother Tina Knowles and received a standing ovation from the audience, which also included her husband Jay Z and daughter Blue Ivy Carter.
Hosted by James Corden, the awards gala, which honours the best in the music industry, also featured special tributes to late singer George Michael by Adele and to late singer Prince by Bruno Mars, The Time and Morris Day.
Another big winner of the night was the late singer David Bowie, who posthumously was given five awards for his 2016 album “Blackstar” in categories like Best Rock Performance, Best Alternative Music Album, Best Rock Song, Best Engineered Album (non-classical) and Best Recording Package.
Defeating the likes of Kanye West and Drake, Chance the Rapper won three nods for Best New Artist, Best Rap Performance and Best Rap Album for “Coloring Book”.
The winners of the night included musical duo Twenty One Pilots, who won the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for “Stressed out”. The Chainsmokers’ “Don’t let me down” was given the Best Dance Recording gramophone, Megadeth as the Best Metal Performance for “Dystopia”, “Tell Me I’m Pretty” as the Best Rock Album, Beyonce’s “Lemonade” as the Best Contemporary Album and “White Sun II” as Best New Age Album.
Beside awards, the 2017 Grammys also witnessed some power-packed performances by Lady Gaga, Metallica, John Legend, Katy Perry, Demi Lovato and The Weeknd, while some celebrities made political statements starting right from the red carpet.
While musical group Highly Suspect’s member Johnny Stevens wore a jacket with “Impeach” written on its back, Perry donned a white pantsuit and had a band on her arms which read: “Persist”. Singer Skylar Grey was also carrying a pink LED-enabled clutch across which the words “Empowerment” and “Equality” were written.
During his opening monologue, Corden said: “With President Trump, we don’t know what comes next.”
Singer-actress Jennifer Lopez and late Michael Jackson’s daughter Paris Jackson also took a jibe at Trump indirectly while being on stage.
But the direct attack on Trump was made by popular rap group A Tribe Called Quest, who called him “President Agent Orange”.
Apart from all that, there were also moments when celebrities faced technical glitches during their gigs.
During her tribute performance to Michael, Adele stopped in between after facing voice malfunction. She later apologised to the audience and started her performance again.
Meanwhile, during Lady Gaga’s collaborative performance with Metallica, the band’s member James Hetfield’s microphone stopped working. Still they didn’t face any issue as Gaga came forward and shared her microphone with him.