Two of the music industry’s brightest stars had the biggest moments on the Grammys stage Sunday night.
Starts, stops, surprises and chair-dropping moments were all on tap at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards as Beyoncé and Adele each provided drama.
A very pregnant Beyoncé was introduced by her mother, Tina Knowles, who noted that both her daughters were Grammy winners. (Solange Knowles won her first Grammy on Sunday for best R & B performance with “Cranes in the Sky.”)
Dressed as a goddess, Beyoncé spoke the words of poet Warsan Shire, just as she did in “Lemonade,” in a performance which paid tribute to motherhood.
Instead of her usual energetic dance moves, the singer incorporated chairs into her performance of “Love Drought” and “Sandcastles.”
With nine nominations, the superstar had the most nominations of any artist this year, followed by Kanye, Drake and Rihanna, who each had eight.
Beyoncé has scored 62 Grammy nominations over the course of her career — more than any other female recording artist.
Adele, who opened the show with her hit “Hello,” also performed a slowed arrangement of George Michael’s “Fastlove” in tribute to the singer, who died on Christmas Day.
She uttered an expletive and stopped after a few verses.
“I’m sorry, I can’t mess this up for him,” Adele said before starting the song over.
The singer was visibly emotional when she finished the song as the audience gave her a standing ovation.
It was the second year in a row Adele had a Grammy snafu.
Last year, the British chanteuse was performing “All I Ask” when there technical issues.
This time around, Adele received support on social media for her desire to want to give her best in honoring George Michael.
Adele took the award for song of the year for “Hello.”
Prince was honored by his fellow Minneapolis sound artists The Time, as well as Bruno Mars, who dressed as the Purple One and covered”Let’s Go Crazy.”
The first award of the night went to Chance the Rapper for best new artist.
“Glory be to God,” the Chicago native said before going on to thanking his family and his hometown.
Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun of Twenty One Pilots removed their pants after they won the Grammy for best pop duo/group performance for “Stressed Out.”
Joseph explained that as aspiring musicians years ago in Ohio, they had watched the awards show at his house in their underwear. They told each other that if they ever won a Grammy, they would receive it in their undies.
“Not only is this amazing, but I want everyone who’s watching at home to know that you could be next,” Joseph said.
The Grammy Awards are known for featuring stellar performances and this year was no exception.
Several stars linked up on the stage for duets, including Keith Urban with Carrie Underwood, Lady Gaga with Metallica, and A Tribe Called Quest with Anderson.Paak and Busta Rhymes.
Busta Rhymes made one of the most vocal political statements of the night referring to President Donald Trump as “President Agent Orange” and criticizing Trump for “perpetuating hate.”
“When we come together, we the people,” the rapper said — playing off the name of A Tribe Called Quest’s single “We The People.”
Grammy producers took advantage of James Corden as host and did a version of his “Carpool Caraoke,” which featured a cardboard cutout of a car and Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban, Jason Derulo, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, John Legend, Ryan Tedder and Neil Diamond singing “Sweet Caroline.”
The audience joined in as Beyoncé’s daughter, Blue Ivy, ran over to also join in the fun.
