Can you even remember a time before the 57th annual Grammys in LA’s Staples Centre?
#1 Did Adele Pull a “Mean Girls”?
A very teary-eyed Adele accepted her award for ‘Album of the Year’ (one of three awards) by dedicating her win to Beyonce, gushing: “I’m very humbled and I’m very grateful… but my artist of my life is Beyonce and this album for me, the ‘Lemonade’ album is so monumental.”
That’s what we know for sure, but there’s also the unverified version of events that depict Adele breaking her Grammy in half to share with Bey. US Weekly says yay, other sources say it was an accident, and that Grammys presented on stage are just dummies while the real, engraved gramophones are later given to winners.
#2 How Many Instruments Did Ed Sheeran Play ON HIS OWN?
https://vimeo.com/203901133
A last-minute addition to the performance line-up, Ed Sheeran brought his new single “Shape of You” to life as a one-man band. Dressed casually in jeans, the singer-songwriter played acoustic guitar, a keyboard, and rocked a couple of mics, all without using in-ear monitors!
#3 “I Can’t Mess This up for Him”
Hats off to Adele! She stuffed up her George Michael ‘Fastlove’ Tribute, and requested to do over because “George means too much”. And in true Adele style, drops an F-bomb. Yes, on live TV.
#4 The Gaga Show Featuring Metallica
https://vimeo.com/203788027
Metallica performed “Moth into Flame” with Lady Gaga, or rather, Lady Gaga performed “Moth into Flame” with a group of backup dancers that have never been to a rock concert before. The train wreck of a performance was riddled with technical glitches that caused James Hetfield’s vocals to go almost inaudible, ending with Hetfield throwing his guitar. Undeniably, Gaga’s vocals were great! Sadly, nothing else matters was.
Warning: The performance is almost too painful to watch.
#5 The Best Year for Tribute Performances
https://vimeo.com/203772917
Adele wasn’t the only artist that paid tribute to one of the greats. Bruno Mars smashed his rendition of the late Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” and Bee Gees were honoured by a medley of lesser known pop artists, but led by Demi Lovato and her cover of “Stayin’ Alive”.
#6 Most Underrated: James Corden’s Opening Rap
https://youtu.be/SvCOb1AFY1w
“Rihanna and Drake, they each can win eight. They sound good together, I think they should date.”
“Oh, they did?”
We love this guy, what can we say.
#7 Beyonce Wins Just by Existing
https://vimeo.com/203754843
The Queen may have only picked up one Grammy this year, but boy did she slay her performance of “Love Drought”/”Sandcastles” while looking like a real-life Snapchat butterfly filter, surrounded by sunshine and blessings and every single good thing in this world — and carrying twins! Trust Beyonce to multiply her pregnancy glow by a million.
#8 Twenty-One Pilots Stripped Down
Pants off, er we mean hats off, to Twenty-One Pilots for winning ‘Best Pop Duo/Group Performance’! The duo dropped their pants before taking the stage to accept their award, but for good reason. Joseph Tyler recalled how he a few years ago, fellow bandmate Josh Dun and a few friends were watching the Grammys together at home:
“And as we were watching, we noticed every single one of us was in our underwear. And seriously, Josh turned to me — and we were no one at that time — and he said, “If we ever go to the Grammys, if we ever win a Grammy, we should receive it just like this.”
#9 Cee Lo Green Was There, Dressed Like This:
… He’s still around, you guys. It looks like we’ll be seeing more of Cee Lo Green this year — well, sort of. His Grammy appearance was apparently a debut of his alter ego, Gnarly Davidson, who’s set to release music soon enough. What will it sound like?
#10 Chance the Rapper Owned the Night
https://youtu.be/bkACNqK4P80
While (almost) every performance was stellar, Chance the Rapper took ’em to church, as they say. His performance of “How Great” and “All We Got” joined by Kirk Franklin, Francis and the Lights, Tamela Mann, and a huge gospel choir proved just how deserving his three wins were. It’s the first year that the awards have allowed stream-only, unsigned artists and albums to be considered, and ‘Colouring Book’ even beat out contenders like Kanye West and Drake!
Oh, and if you ever get to the Grammy Awards in LA, stay with us here at some of our amazing apartments!
Photo credits: Main.
