Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Pop Solo Performance, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Album of the Year: Adele ruled the year. The British superstar went five for five at music's biggest night in Los Angeles on Sunday. It came to no surprise that her comeback album, "25" would dominate the charts; however, it would be a head-to-head battle with fellow superstar and veteran, Beyoncé.
The songstress opened up the show singing her hit single "Hello", which won Adele three of the five Grammy's. Her vocals, as always, were nothing less than perfect as she hit the high notes on the chorus to giving us the deep, rich notes everyone craves from deep within them.
But it wasn't until the George Michael legacy that the world got their first glimpse of a raw, emotional Adele. Yes, her songs are sad, about an awful patch in her life, yet the emotion is from the past, not the current. When singing "Fastlove", she gave CBS techs a run for their money on the audio censor as one of the words banned by the FCC slipped out of her mouth. But it wasn't just a curse that surprised everyone. It was the actions after.
"I know it's live TV, I'm sorry. I can't do it again like last year. I'm sorry for swearing and I'm sorry for starting again. Can we please start it again?"
And with that, the crowd went insane. No, not in anger of what happened, but in respect and compassion to Adele for her courageous action to respect the late George Michael, her idol. After the second time performing his tribute, a screaming crowd were on their feet for another standing ovation for the legend.
Besides for giving Michael, who died unexpectedly on Christmas at the young age of 53, the proper tribute he deserves, Adele also restarted because she couldn't and wouldn't have another blundered Grammy performance. Last year, when she came back to the Grammy stage, a microphone in the piano caused audio issues throughout her performance, leading to critics to give her negative reviews.
As the show came to a close, it was time for the two biggest awards of the night. Who would win Record of the Year? Would it be the Brit who already took over the night or Queen Bey who takes over the world year after year and dominated the stage in a confusing performance earlier in the night? With no hesitation, Tim McGraw, country legend said:
"And the Grammy goes to: Hello, Adele."
A tearful Adele strutted onstage to accept the award- this time thanking her manager who she "loves like her father" even though she doesn't love her father. After a chuckle by the audience, she explained saying she loves him how someone would love their father. She then went to acknowledge her other idol: Beyoncé.
"My dream and my idol is Queen B. You move my soul every day and you have done for nearly 17 years, and I adore you, and I want you to be my mummy.
While making reference to Beyoncé's latest announcement that she is expecting twins, the audience again went crazy in cheers. Adele walked backstage as the nominees were announced for the biggest award of the night: Album of the Year.
Again it would be a head to head battle between Adele for her album 25 and Beyoncé for her album "Lemonade", which had the world wondering for months who the hell "Becky with the good hair" is! Faith Hill opened the envelope, took a long dramatic pause:
"25."
A now sobbing Adele walked to the microphone once again from backstage. At a loss for words, she begins talking about motherhood and the battles she faced and faces, how it is difficult, but winning tonight was "full-circle." Yet, the humble Adele wouldn't accept this award alone.
"But I can’t possibly accept this award. And I’m very humbled and I’m very grateful and gracious. But my artist of my life is Beyoncé. And this album to me, the “Lemonade” album, is just so monumental. Beyoncé, it’s so monumental. And so well thought out, and so beautiful and soul-baring and we all got to see another side to you that you don’t always let us see. And we appreciate that. And all us artists here adore you. You are our light."
A now tearful Beyoncé began to thank Adele from the audience, clearly not upset that she lost but honored by her biggest fan's amazing words. Adele's actions were noted by some of Hollywood's biggest stars such as Bette Midler
and Wendy Williams.
Besides for celebrities chiming in praising Adele, the entire world did. In my perspective, as a musician, there is nothing more embarrassing than messing up; however, Adele embraced it, while obviously upset, but did the unthinkable by restarting. In a world where everyone is a critic- and me being the biggest one- it was astonishing to see the amount of support she received.
But with support, comes anger. There were still people who believed Beyonce should've won...including Adele herself! She even gave Billboard the quote of:
"What the F--- Does She Have to Do to Win Album of the Year?"
In my opinion, Adele deserved to win. Her album broke records by selling faster than any other album in the 21st century, forced artists to push back the release of their albums because there was no way to come close to the amount of sales "25" achieved, and even broke a record held by Beyoncé: most sold album on iTunes in the first 24 hours of its release.
To add even more to the reason why Adele deserved Album of the Year, "25" received Diamond certification and "Hello" was certified Quadruple Platinum by Recording Industry Association of America. This is in comparison to "Formation", the first single from "Lemonade" which never hit number one on a US chart and was only Gold certified by RIAA. Additionally, Lemonade didn't break any records for sales besides being the most streamed album by a female in a week. Adele, like Taylor Swift, famously chose to not release her album on streaming services over royalties. This forced listeners to purchase the album outright.
Now, there are also some who believed Drake deserved Album of the Year for "Views" This argument is a little better than Beyoncé's as sales were higher and faster, actually surpassing "Lemonade" and coming somewhat close to "25". "Hotline Bling", which won the Grammy for Best Rap Song, trailed Adele's "Hello" on the charts never making it to number one. "One Dance" finally made it to number one on the charts after "Hello" began to fade out. It only lasted a week; however, it also received Quadruple Platinum certification.
So, what's your opinion? Who do you think deserved to win and why? Leave a comment below with your thoughts!