February 15, 2017 The Skanner Page 7
Arts & Entertainment
Adele Wins Top Grammys, But Pays Tribute to Beyonce
Kendrick Lamar last year. Kanye West
and Drake did not attend the Grammys
this year.
Beyonce won two Grammys and her
visually arresting performance of
“Love Drought” and “Sandcastles” won
acclaim Sunday. Perhaps sensing it
would be her last chance, she took the
By DAVID BAUDER
AP Television Writer
PHOTO BY CHRIS PIZZELLO/INVISION/AP
I
n an extraordinary moment between
the music industry’s top female art-
ists, Adele beat Beyonce for three of
the top Grammy Awards — then said
her competitor deserved at least one of
them.
The Grammys featured memorable
performances by the likes of Bruno
Mars and A Tribe Called Quest, big vic-
tories by Chance the Rapper and David
Bowie, and some unusual flubs Sun-
day, but they were overshadowed by
Adele’s triumph and how she respond-
ed. The Recording Academy did noth-
ing to calm criticism that Black artists
are overshadowed in major awards by
more conservative white musicians.
Adele’s “Hello” won Grammys for
song and record of the year and its cre-
ator flashed pride: she called it “my fa-
vorite song I’ve ever done.”
Her win for album of the year was
more of a surprise. “25” was a com-
mercial smash but Beyonce’s “Lemon-
ade” won wider acclaim as an artistic
statement. In tears, Adele thanked the
academy for the award and poignantly
talked about reclaiming a bit of herself
after having difficulties with mother-
hood. Then she addressed Beyonce,
praising “Lemonade” as monumental,
beautiful and soul-baring.
“The reason I felt I had to say some-
thing was my album of the year is ‘Lem-
onade,’” Adele said backstage later.
“She is my icon of my whole life.”
She told of practicing a Spice Girls
song for a school assembly growing up
Beyonce poses in the press room with the awards
for best music video for “Formation” and best
urban contemporary album for “Lemonade” at the
59th annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center
on Sunday, Feb. 12, 2017, in Los Angeles.
in Britain until her friends turned her
on to Beyonce’s singing on the 1997 Des-
tiny’s Child song “No No No.”
“It’s her time to win,” Adele said. “My
view is kind of what the (expletive) does
she have to do to win album of the year?
I felt this album showed another side to
her that we haven’t seen and I felt bless-
ed to be brought into that situation.”
If that’s how Adele felt, many Gram-
my Award critics are likely to chime
in. One prominent Black artist, Frank
Ocean, did not submit his work for
Grammy consideration this year and
criticized the academy for giving its
top album award to Taylor Swift over
“
‘It’s her time to win,’
Adele said, praising
‘Lemonade’
time to explain her thoughts behind
“Lemonade” upon winning the Gram-
my for best urban contemporary al-
bum.
“My intention for the film and album
is to create a body of work that would
give voice to our pain, our struggles,
our doubts and our history, to confront
issues that make us uncomfortable,”
said Beyonce, who is pregnant with
twins.
Blue Ivy, her 5-year-old daughter
with Jay Z, was a scene-stealer in her
own right as she wore a Prince-inspired
outfit in the audience. She slipped into
a crowd of musicians when Grammys
host James Corden replicated a “car-
pool karaoke” skit.
As usual, the Grammy show was
heavy on performance. As is less usu-
al, there were a couple of flubs that re-
minded the audience it was a live tele-
cast.
Adele called a halt to her George Mi-
chael tribute, asking the band to start
“Fastlove” again. “I can’t mess this up
for him,” she said and apologized to the
audience. She was warmly applauded
at the end by fellow musicians, most of
whom could relate to rough moments
onstage.
One of Adele’s Grammy statues ap-
peared to break onstage when she
accepted it. But by the time she took
photos backstage, she had five intact
Grammys.
During Lady Gaga’s energetic pairing
with Metallica — showing a tough girl
side that wasn’t on display during her
Super Bowl halftime show — duet part-
ner James Hetfield’s microphone mal-
functioned and he couldn’t be heard
for two verses. He kicked the mic stand
over and angrily threw his guitar when
the song was done.
Mars had two show-stopping num-
bers, his own “That’s What I Like” and a
blistering Prince tribute, “Let’s Go Cra-
zy.” On the latter, he even schooled The
Time’s Morris Day — and Day’s mirror.
Impressive duets were turned in by
Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood,
the Weeknd and Daft Punk, and Maren
Morris and Alicia Keys. Several art-
ists joined in tribute to the Bee Gees as
Barry Gibb, the band’s only surviving
member, was caught on camera singing
along from the audience.
A Tribe Called Quest’s performance
was the most overtly political, with
guest Busta Rhymes criticizing “Presi-
dent Agent Orange.”
After Adele’s five Grammys, Bow-
ie won four, as did Adele’s producer,
Greg Kurstin. Chance the Rapper won
See GRAMMYS on page 11