Adele Wins Album of the Year, Gives All Credit to Beyoncé
By the time superstar vocalist Adele took the stage at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards to accept the most coveted award of the night, Album of the Year (for her third album, 25), the singer had already accepted four other awards honoring her work. Still, despite being so richly lauded, she had definite ideas about the person to whom she would dedicate her final thank-you.
After making a few notes about her difficulties adjusting to motherhood (“I struggled, and I still do struggle, being a mom. It’s really hard”), Adele took an unexpected turn — offering her victory to the woman she felt should have received it, namely fellow pop diva Beyoncé.
“I can’t possibly accept this award,” Adele brokenly said, her voice choked with tears. “I’m very humbled and very grateful and gracious, but my artist of my life is Beyoncé … the Lemonade album was so monumental, and so well thought-out, and so beautiful and soul-baring.
“We all got to see another side of you that you don’t always let us see, and we appreciate that,” Adele continued. “And all us artists [expletive] adore you. You are our light. And the way that you make me and my friends feel, the way you make my black friends feel is empowering, and you make them stand up for themselves. And I love you. I always have. And I always will.”
Beyoncé and her husband, rapper Jay Z, looked on from the audience and applauded, clearly moved. Beyoncé was actually in tears, clasping her hand to her heart and mouthing the words “Thank you.”
Adele was the big winner of the night, taking five awards, including Album, Song, and Record of the Year. Beyoncé, who was the most-nominated artist of the night, took home two. The 2017 Grammy Awards were aired live from Los Angeles on Feb. 12. The full list of winners is below.
Record of the Year
“Hello” — Adele
Album of the Year
25 — Adele (read our review)
Song of the Year
“Hello” — Adele Adkins & Greg Kurstin, songwriters (Adele)
New Artist
Chance the Rapper (read our review of “Coloring Book”)
Pop Solo Performance
“Hello” — Adele
Pop Duo/Group Performance:
“Stressed Out” — twenty one pilots
Traditional Pop Vocal Album
“Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin” — Willie Nelson
Pop Vocal Album
“25” — Adele
Dance Recording
“Don’t Let Me Down” — The Chainsmokers Featuring Daya
Dance/Electronic Album
Skin — Flume
Contemporary Instrumental Album
“Culcha Vulcha” — Snarky Puppy
Rock Performance
“Blackstar” — David Bowie
Metal Performance
“Dystopia” — Megadeth
Rock Song
“Blackstar” — David Bowie, songwriter (David Bowie)
Rock Album
Tell Me I’m Pretty — Cage the Elephant
Alternative Music Album
Blackstar — David Bowie
R&B Performance
“Cranes in the Sky” — Solange
Traditional R&B Performance
“Angel” — Lalah Hathaway
R&B Song
“Lake By the Ocean” — Hod David & Musze, songwriters (Maxwell) (read our interview)
Urban Contemporary Album
Lemonade — Beyoncé
R&B Album
Lalah Hathaway Live — Lalah Hathaway
Rap Performance
“No Problem” — Chance the Rapper Featuring Lil Wayne & 2 Chainz
Rap/Sung Performance
“Hotline Bling” — Drake
Rap Song
“Hotline Bling” — Aubrey Graham & Paul Jefferies, songwriters (Drake)
Rap Album
Coloring Book — Chance the Rapper
Country Solo Performance
“My Church” — Maren Morris
Country Duo/Group Performance
“Jolene” — Pentatonix featuring Dolly Parton
Country Song
“Humble and Kind” — Lori McKenna, songwriter (Tim McGraw)
Country Album
A Sailor’s Guide to Earth — Sturgill Simpson (read our interview)
New Age Album
White Sun II — White Sun
Improvised Jazz Solo
“I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry” — John Scofield, soloist
Jazz Vocal Album
Take Me to the Alley — Gregory Porter
Jazz Instrumental Album
Country for Old Men — John Scofield
Large Jazz Ensemble Album
“Presidential Suite: Eight Variations on Freedom” — Ted Nash Big Band
Latin Jazz Album
“Tribute to Irakere: Live in Marciac” — Chucho Valdés
Gospel Performance/Song
“God Provides” — Tamela Mann; Kirk Franklin, songwriter
Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song
“Thy Will” — Hillary Scott & the Scott Family; Bernie Herms, Hillary Scott & Emily Weisband, songwriters
Gospel Album
Losing My Religion — Kirk Franklin (read our interview)
Contemporary Christian Music Album
Love Remains — Hillary Scott & the Scott Family
Roots Gospel Album
Hymns — Joey + Rory
Latin Pop Album
Un Besito Mas — Jesse & Joy
Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album
iLevitable — iLe
Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano)
Un Azteca En El Azteca, Vol. 1 (En Vivo) — Vicente Fernández
Tropical Latin Album
Donde Están? — Jose Lugo & Guasábara Combo
American Roots Performance
“House of Mercy” — Sarah Jarosz
American Roots Song
“Kid Sister” — Vince Gill, songwriter (The Time Jumpers)
Americana Album
This Is Where I Live — William Bell
Bluegrass Album
“Coming Home” — O’Connor Band With Mark O’Connor
Traditional Blues Album
“Porcupine Meat” — Bobby Rush
Contemporary Blues Album
The Last Days of Oakland — Fantastic Negrito
Folk Album
Undercurrent — Sarah Jarosz
Regional Roots Music Album
E Walea — Kalani Pe’a
Reggae Album
Ziggy Marley — Ziggy Marley
World Music Album
Sing Me Home — Yo-Yo Ma & The Silk Road Ensemble
Children’s Album
Infinity Plus One — Secret Agent 23 Skidoo
Spoken Word Album
In Such Good Company: Eleven Years of Laughter, Mayhem, and Fun in the Sandbox — Carol Burnett
Comedy Album
Talking for Clapping — Patton Oswalt
Musical Theater Album
The Color Purple
Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media
Miles Ahead (Miles Davis & Various Artists)
Score Soundtrack for Visual Media
Star Wars: The Force Awakens — John Williams, composer
Song Written for Visual Media
“Can’t Stop The Feeling!” — Max Martin, Shellback & Justin Timberlake, songwriters (Justin Timberlake, Anna Kendrick, Gwen Stefani, James Corden, Zooey Deschanel, Walt Dohrn, Ron Funches, Caroline Hjelt, Aino Jawo, Christopher Mintz-Plasse & Kunal Nayyar), Track from: “Trolls”
Instrumental Composition
“Spoken at Midnight” — Ted Nash, composer
Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella
“You And I” — Jacob Collier, arranger (Jacob Collier)
Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals
“Flintstones” — Jacob Collier, arranger (Jacob Collier)
Recording Package
“Blackstar” — Jonathan Barnbrook, art director (David Bowie)
Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package
Edith Piaf 1915-2015 — Gérard Lo Monaco, art director (Edith Piaf)
Album Notes
Sissle and Blake Sing Shuffle Along — Ken Bloom & Richard Carlin, album notes writers (Eubie Blake & Noble Sissle)
Historical Album
The Cutting Edge 1965-1966: The Bootleg Series, Vol.12 (Collector’s Edition), Steve Berkowitz & Jeff Rosen, compilation producers; Mark Wilder, mastering engineer (Bob Dylan)
Engineered Album, Non-Classical
Blackstar — David Bowie, Tom Elmhirst, Kevin Killen & Tony Visconti, engineers; Joe LaPorta, mastering engineer (David Bowie)
Producer of the Year, Non-Classical
Greg Kurstin
Remixed Recording
“Tearing Me Up” (RAC Remix) — André Allen Anjos, remixer (Bob Moses)
Surround Sound Album
“Dutilleux: Sur Le Même Accord; Les Citations; Mystère De L’instant & Timbres, Espace, Mouvement” — Alexander Lipay & Dmitriy Lipay, surround mix engineers; Dmitriy Lipay, surround mastering engineer; Dmitriy Lipay, surround producer (Ludovic Morlot & Seattle Symphony)
Engineered Album, Classical
Corigliano: The Ghosts of Versailles — Mark Donahue & Fred Vogler, engineers (James Conlon, Guanqun Yu, Joshua Guerrero, Patricia Racette, Christopher Maltman, Lucy Schaufer, Lucas Meachem, LA Opera Chorus & Orchestra)
Producer of the Year, Classical
David Frost
Orchestral Performance
“Shostakovich: Under Stalin’s Shadow – Symphonies Nos. 5, 8 & 9” — Andris Nelsons, conductor (Boston Symphony Orchestra)
Opera Recording
“Corigliano: The Ghosts of Versailles” — James Conlon, conductor; Joshua Guerrero, Christopher Maltman, Lucas Meachem, Patricia Racette, Lucy Schaufer & Guanqun Yu; Blanton Alspaugh, producer (LA Opera Orchestra; LA Opera Chorus)
Choral Performance
“Penderecki Conducts Penderecki, Volume 1” — Krzysztof Penderecki, conductor; Henryk Wojnarowski, choir director (Nikolay Didenko, Agnieszka Rehlis & Johanna Rusanen; Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra; Warsaw Philharmonic Choir)
Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance
“Steve Reich” — Third Coast Percussion
Classical Instrumental Solo
“Daugherty: Tales of Hemingway” — Zuill Bailey; Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor (Nashville Symphony)
Classical Solo Vocal Album
TIE: Schumann & Berg — Dorothea Röschmann; Mitsuko Uchida, accompanist / Shakespeare Songs — Ian Bostridge; Antonio Pappano, accompanist (Michael Collins, Elizabeth Kenny, Lawrence Power & Adam Walker)
Classical Compendium
Daugherty: Tales of Hemingway; American Gothic; Once Upon A Castle — Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor; Tim Handley, producer
Contemporary Classical Composition
Daugherty: Tales of Hemingway — Michael Daugherty, composer (Zuill Bailey, Giancarlo Guerrero & Nashville Symphony)
Music Video
“Formation” — Beyoncé
Music Film
The Beatles: Eight Days a Week the Touring Years — Ron Howard, video director; Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Scott Pascucci & Nigel Sinclair, video producers
