2017 GRAMMYs Recap
By Brian Ives for radio.com
For those who think pop stars should “shut up and sing,” last night’s GRAMMY Awards only gave them half of what they wanted.
Political statements—mainly of the anti-Trump variety—popped up throughout the night, as did a few sound problems. And, as always, the passing of recently departed icons was addressed as well. But really, the night belonged to Adele.
The British singer-songwriter won five GRAMMYs for her insanely successful 25 album: Best Pop Vocal Album, Best Pop Solo Performance for “Hello,” and the show’s three biggest awards: Album of the Year, Song of the Year (for “Hello”) and Record of the Year (also for “Hello”).
She beat Beyoncé in four of those five categories (Bey wasn’t nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album), which seemed to shock and even disturb her. She addressed Queen Bey in her final two acceptance speeches of the night, saying, “My dream, my idol, is Queen Bey and I adore you. You move my soul every single day and you have for the last seventeen years and I want you to be my mommy.” And later, she said, “The artist of my life is Beyoncé. Lemonade was so monumental, Beyoncé, and so well thought out and so beautiful and soul-baring and we all got to see another side to you.”
Despite having sold tens of millions of albums and becoming one of the biggest stars in the world in less than a decade, Adele still seemingly geeks out, sweetly, over Beyoncé.
Surely those who didn’t like Beyonce’s political statements in her music (or at last year’s Super Bowl Halftime show) probably also weren’t thrilled about some of the other comments that came up throughout the night, some of which were from surprising sources.
Jennifer Lopez, on hand to present the Best New Artist award (which went to Chance the Rapper), and who is not generally outspoken politically, said “At this particular point in history, our voices are needed more than ever. As Toni Morrison once said, this is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, and no room for fear.” We’re looking forward to hearing how…