IN FULL: 59th Grammy award winner in key categories, memorable moments

by NEWS AGENCIES
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Adele took home five Grammys including the top three awards for Album, Record and Song of the Year, besting her rival Beyonce, who finished the night with two trophies.

More than 13,000 music professionals in the Recording Academy voted to determine winners of the Grammys, which were handed out in Los Angeles.

Here is a list of winners in key categories:

Album of the year: Adele, “25”

Record of the year (for best overall song): Adele, “Hello”

Song of the year (for songwriting): Adele and Greg Kurstin, “Hello”

Best Pop Vocal Album: Adele, “25”

Best Pop Solo Performance: Adele, “Hello”

Best New Artist: Chance the Rapper

Best Rap Album: Chance the Rapper, “Coloring Book”

Best Rap Performance: Chance the Rapper featuring Lil Wayne and 2 Chainz, “No Problem”

Best Rap Song: Drake, “Hotline Bling”

Best Rock Album: Cage the Elephant, “Tell Me I’m Pretty”

Best Rock Song: David Bowie, “Blackstar”

Best Rock Performance: David Bowie, “Blackstar”

Best Alternative Rock Album: David Bowie, “Blackstar”

Best Urban Contemporary Album: Beyonce, “Lemonade”

Best Music Video: Beyonce, “Formation”

Best Country Album: Sturgill Simpson, “A Sailor’s Guide to Earth”

Adele wins big at Grammys with five awards

Adele triumphed once again at the Grammys with five awards for her latest blockbuster album of ballads, but she used her moment in the sun to heap praise on Beyonce, whom she bested for top honors.

The English balladeer swept up the trio of major prizes at the music industry’s biggest night — Album, Record and Song of the Year — along with two other pop awards. Beyonce walked away with two trophies.

And in a sentimental homage to late rock icon David Bowie, his final album “Blackstar” earned five awards, including four posthumous prizes for the singer.

Adele, who has stood by her winning style of heart-wrenching songs of loss and regret, became the first act ever to sweep the three key categories in two different years.

She won Record of the Year, which recognizes overall song, and Song of the Year, which looks at songwriting, for her ubiquitous hit “Hello” and Album of the Year for “25.”

Adele made a similar sweep in 2012 with her last album “21” — which remains the only album to have outsold “25” in the past decade.

Fighting back tears, Adele took the podium and paid tribute to Beyonce, who had led the night’s nominations with nine for her politically edgy “Lemonade.”

“My idol is Queen Bey and I adore you. You move my soul every day,” Adele said as she looked at Beyonce, who was making her first public appearance since announcing she was pregnant with twins.

She hailed Beyonce’s album as “monumental and so well thought out, and so beautiful and soul-baring,” suggesting it should have won, bringing her rival to tears.

Speaking to reporters after the show, Adele said she had been worried “25” would flop: “I didn’t really find my voice, and I don’t know if I did find it even at the end.”

It was a happy ending to a night that included a major embarrassment as Adele — using an expletive that was cut from the television broadcast — insisted on restarting “Fastlove,” her tribute to late pop icon George Michael.

It was the second straight year of hiccups for Adele after a microphone fell on the piano during her Grammy performance a year ago.

Shortly afterwards on Sunday, Metallica frontman James Hetfield discovered that his microphone was off as the band played with Lady Gaga — who transformed into a metalhead, dancing ferociously before stage-diving.

– Beyonce’s call for inclusive world –

Beyonce won only for Best Urban Contemporary Album for “Lemonade” and Best Music Video for “Formation.”

The video marked the most political statement of Beyonce’s career as she rallied behind the Black Lives Matter movement with imagery of police officers surrendering as if under arrest.

Reflecting her increasingly experimental side, the 35-year-old singer’s Grammy performance was a New Age-inspired celebration of motherhood.

With hints of India and ancient Egypt, Beyonce — in a golden crown and cape — sang two new songs as dozens of female dancers surrounded her with flowers and a spoken word incantation lauded the power of women.

Accepting one of her awards, Beyonce said “Lemonade” and the accompanying film were meant to “give a voice to our pain, our struggles, our darkness 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 up in a world where they look in the mirror — first through their own families, as well as the news, the Super Bowl, the Olympics, the White House and the Grammys — and see themselves, and have no doubt that they’re beautiful, intelligent, and capable,” Beyonce said in one of the night’s more subtle political comments.

The evening saw its most forceful statement as rapper Busta Rhymes took the stage with hip-hop pioneers A Tribe Called Quest and emerging artist Anderson .Paak.

Denouncing US President Donald Trump for his efforts to curtail immigration, Busta Rhymes mocked “President Agent Orange” and shouted, “We come together! We the people!”

– Posthumous honors for Bowie –

“Blackstar” — the final album of Bowie, who always enjoyed more recognition in his native Britain — won in all five categories for which it was nominated, including Best Rock Song and Best Alternative Music Album.

Bowie had won only one Grammy in his lifetime before Sunday.

And “Blackstar,” which he released two days before his death last year from an undisclosed battle with cancer, was controversially passed over for Album of the Year honors.

Bowie showed himself innovative to the end by collaborating with the avant-garde jazz saxophonist Donny McCaslin.

While not predicting how Bowie would have felt, McCaslin told reporters: “When the press was hearing the album before it came out, I could see it meant a lot to him.”

Chance the Rapper, 23, picked up three prizes including the closely watched Best New Artist award for his gospel-infused hip-hop. The Chicago artist benefited from updated rules that now consider streaming exclusives.

Bruno Mars electrified the crowd with a tribute to Prince, uncannily channeling the late pop icon by donning a purple jacket and playing a guitar solo to “Let’s Go Crazy.”

The performance marked a new commercial effort by the estate of Prince — who famously rejected music industry conventions — with his classic albums on Sunday returning to major streaming sites.

Grammy memorable moments: Adele, Beyonce, Prince, politics

In Beyonce’s first performance since announcing her pregnancy with twins, she shined head to toe at the Grammy Awards on Sunday night in golden hues. Meanwhile Adele took the top honors and got a rare do-over on national television when she flubbed her performance, and Beyonce’s daughter, Blue Ivy, stole the show with her adorable mini-Prince outfit. Here are the top Grammy moments:

MOTHER BEYONCE

In a highly anticipated performance, the first since she announced she is pregnant with twins, Beyonce celebrated her femininity and motherhood. Clad head to toe in gold with bands around her neck, a crown and a veil, she often cradled her belly with her hands.

Although she skipped the elaborate choreography often seen in her shows, the performance was visually arresting with ghostly images of women and children dancing around her. Introduced by her mother, Tina Knowles, Beyonce looked down at her husband, Jay Z, and daughter, Blue Ivy.

She lost to Adele, who was the musical sales leader in 2016, in the top awards of the night.

ADELE, TAKE TWO

What everyone loves about Adele is that despite her great vocal skills, she’s still nervous and makes mistakes on big stages. Last year at the Grammys, her performance was marred by a technical problem, but this time she flubbed one of her performances and asked for a do-over.

After a flawless opening performance of her superhit “Hello,” the British singer came out a second time to honor the late George Michael. But early into her somber, orchestral performance of “Fastlove,” she stopped singing, cursed and asked the band to start over, a rare occurrence on a live awards show. She explained, “I can’t mess this up for him.”

CARPOOL GRAMMYS

Late-night TV show host James Corden has made his career lip-synching with musicians in his car, so he brought a prop car into the Staples Center in Los Angeles.

Corden inserted some Steve Martin-esque antics by falling through the stairs in his entrance and rapping his intro with one shoe, namedropping President Donald Trump as well as several musicians up for awards. Corden seemed adept at improvisation, even coming out in his boxers in response to twenty one pilots stripping down to their undies.

Later on, Corden brought out a cardboard car and gathered a group of musicians from the front rows to sing with Neil Diamond to “Sweet Caroline.” But among Jennifer Lopez, Jason Derulo, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Keith Urban and John Legend, few of the artists seemed to remember the lyrics. The skit was saved by Blue Ivy, who jumped in the scene at the end.

POLITICAL TALK

The artists on the red carpet and during the show expressed themselves about the divisive political climate in dress, song and speeches. Transgender actress Laverne Cox asked people to Google Gavin Grimm, a transgender student whose case against so-called bathroom bills will be considered by the U.S. Supreme Court. A Tribe Called Quest with Anderson .Paak sang “We the People” and ended with a line of rappers with their hands held in the air in fists shouting, “Resist.” Paris Jackson, the 18-year-old daughter of pop icon Michael Jackson, called for support of the protesters against the Dakota Access Pipeline. Jennifer Lopez was more subtle, but clear when she called for action. “There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence and no room for fear,” Lopez said.

Katy Perry debuted a metaphor-heavy new single, “Chained to the Rhythm,” about the complacency of pop music that ended with Perry and singer Skip Marley standing in front of an image of the U.S. Constitution. Singer Joy Villa walked the red carpet with President Donald Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan emblazoned on her gown, but she garnered a lot of criticism online for the obvious attention-grabbing stunt.

MARS ATTACKS

Blue Ivy wasn’t the only one channeling the Purple One. Bruno Mars dazzled in his impression of the late musical icon Prince, performing in a sparkly purple coat and wailing on a white guitar like the one Prince played. Along with Prince collaborators The Time, the medley of songs included “Jungle Love,” ”The Bird” and “Let’s Go Crazy.” It was a fitting reminder of his incredible catalog, which was also released to most streaming music outlets the day of the Grammys.