The 2017 Grammy Awards: Moments the Cameras Missed

While Adele’s official Grammy tribute to George Michael was heartfelt and somber, a much more lighthearted homage to the late singer took place backstage before the show began, when no cameras were rolling. YouTube sensation Sergio Flores, better known as the Sexy Sax Man who pops up in random places playing Wham!’s classic “Careless Whisper,” spontaneously picked up his saxophone and performed the song’s infectious riff, bringing the joy of sax to his small but delighted audience.

But for the most part, the 59th Annual Grammy Awards, which took place Sunday at Los Angeles’s Staples Center, was a serious and sometimes politically charged affair. Before the telecast began, Grammys producer Ken Ehrlich told the potential winners: “Say something important tonight. We’re expecting it.”

Ehrlich also reminisced about the days when the Grammys were a relatively modest affair, produced at L.A.’s Shrine Auditorium, which holds less than half the capacity of the massive Staples Center. While Ehrlich was speaking, country star Tim McGraw made his way to his seat by crossing over the main stage, where Ehrlich was holding court. “Tim McGraw, you stepped right on my line!” Ehrlich quipped.

One of the bands that heeded above-mentioned Ehrlich’s request to say something important was A Tribe Called Quest, who gave a rousing medley performance and delivered messages of resistance and solidarity. One unexpected fan? Keith Urban, who was on his feet dancing and grooving during their entire number.

Also during the ceremony, Beyoncé’s visually stunning and daring performance left many people in the audience not so much grooving as gasping. But all that beauty comes at a cost, as the stagehands discovered: Queen Bey, who frolicked on a bed of flowers, left behind the wreckage of thousands of petals, which took about a dozen people several minutes to clean up during a commercial break.

Beyoncé wasn’t the only member of the Knowles family to take home a Grammy (or two) Sunday night — Bey’s young sister, Solange, also earned a trophy, for Best R&B Performance for “Cranes in the Sky.” Chatting with reporters in the media room, Solange cited author Maya Angelou as an inspiration and said, “All that we can do as artists, especially as a songwriter, is to write about the truth.” She also gave shoutouts to Nina Simone and Marvin Gaye. “I’m grateful to those artists, because it’s not easy to do that, but we’re not doing anything new,” Solange said.

Also in the press room, Album of the Year winner and massive Beyoncé fan Adele said that she felt that 2017 should have been Beyoncé’s time to win. “My album of the year was Lemonade,” she declared. “What the f*** does she have to do to win Album of the Year? That’s how I feel.”

Another diva, Lady Gaga, impressed in a very different way. Fresh off of a triumphant Super Bowl performance, she revealed yet another persona: the hard-rocking frontwoman for Metallica. Before taking the stage, she sprinted through the crowd hugging friends, waving, and flashing peace signs; later she wound up back in the audience, via her epic stage dive.

Earlier in the day, another Grammy winner, Chance the Rapper’s producer Cam O’bi, told Yahoo Music that he could hardly believe he was walking the red carpet. “It’s surreal,” he said. “It’s my first time being nominated and being here. [Chance and I] started working together on Acid Rap. It’s been life-changing.”

Chance’s album Coloring Book took home the honor for Best Rap Album, and proved that independent artists who give away their music for free can go far in this business. “I expected that he’d release it streaming only because of the kind of artist he is — he’s a product of the Internet age,” O’bi said.