February 13, 2017
by Carla Hay
British singer/songwriter Adele set a new record at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards, which took place at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on February 12, 2017. Adele became the first artist to win the Grammy Awards for Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Record of the Year in two separate years. Her album “25” and her smash hit song “Hello” also won Grammys for Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Pop Vocal Performance, respectively.
Adele also performed twice on the televised portion of the ceremony: She sang “Hello” at the beginning. She later paid tribute to the late George Michael with a literally show-stopping version of Michael’s “Fastlove,” when she began the song and then stopped and asked to start over so she could sing better. Adele made profuse apologies for the interruption, but that flub was overshadowed by her historic sweep of the Grammy Awards. She also won in all five categories for which she was nominated.
David Bowie’s “Blackstar” album and song were awarded five Grammys: Best Alternative Music Album; Best Rock Performance; Best Rock Song; Best Recording Package; and Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical.
Other multiple winners included Chance the Rapper (who was named Best New Artist), Beyoncé, and Hillary Scott & the Scott Family, who won two Grammys each. Beyoncé went into the ceremony with the most nominations (nine).
The ceremony handed most of the awards in a pre-telecast ceremony (hosted by Margaret Cho) that could be viewed on the Internet. The televised portion of the show is about the live performances and the awards in the biggest categories.
A complete list of winners can be found at the official Grammy website.
“The Late Late Show” host James Corden hosted the televised portion of the ceremony, which was shown on CBS in the United States. He was brought in as a new host for the Grammys, which were hosted by LL Cool J from 2012 to 2016. The change in hosts appears to have made an impact on the ratings. According to CBS, the 2017 Grammy Awards had 26 million U.S. viewers: the largest Grammy Awards audience since 2014. Corden also emceed the 2016 Tony Awards, which had its highest ratings in several years, due in large part to the Tony-winning blockbuster “Hamilton.”
Here is the complete list of performances that took place at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards:
| Artist(s) | Song(s) |
|---|---|
| Adele | “Hello” |
| The Weeknd Daft Punk |
“Starboy” (intro) “I Feel It Coming” |
| Keith Urban Carrie Underwood |
“The Fighter” |
| Ed Sheeran | “Shape of You” |
| Lukas Graham Kelsea Ballerini |
“7 Years” “Peter Pan” |
| Beyoncé | “Love Drought” “Sandcastles” |
| James Corden Neil Diamond Jennifer Lopez John Legend Faith Hill Jason Derulo Ryan Tedder Keith Urban Tim McGraw |
“Sweet Caroline” |
| Bruno Mars | “That’s What I Like” |
| Little Big Town | “Teenage Dream” (intro) |
| Katy Perry Skip Marley |
“Chained to the Rhythm” |
| William Bell Gary Clark Jr. |
“Born Under a Bad Sign” |
| Maren Morris Alicia Keys |
“Once” |
| Adele | Tribute to George Michael “Fastlove” |
| Metallica Lady Gaga |
“Moth Into Flame” |
| Sturgill Simpson The Dap-Kings |
“All Around You” |
| Demi Lovato Tori Kelly Little Big Town Andra Day |
Tribute to the Bee Gees “Stayin’ Alive” “Tragedy” “How Deep Is Your Love” “Night Fever” |
| A Tribe Called Quest Anderson .Paak Busta Rhymes Consequence |
“Award Tour” “Movin Backwards” “We the People….” |
| The Time Bruno Mars |
Tribute to Prince “Jungle Love” “The Bird” “Let’s Go Crazy” |
| Pentatonix | “ABC” |
| Chance the Rapper Kirk Franklin Francis and the Lights Tamela Mann |
“How Great” “All We Got” |
| John Legend Cynthia Erivo |
In Memoriam “God Only Knows” |
More Grammy Awards: