The 59th Grammy Awards will be remembered not for the fact that Adele won all five awards she was nominated for, but for the Brit’s demonstration of impeccable taste.
In an upset, Adele’s “25” edged out Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” for Album of the Year. Although Adele’s ballad-heavy effort sold more than 10 million copies in the U.S. alone, “Lemonade” was highly touted for its varied musical styles and groundbreaking release via an hour-long HBO special.
Adele even used her acceptance speech to talk about how great “Lemonade” was. “I can’t possibly accept this award,” she said. “The artist of my life is Beyoncé . . . the ‘Lemonade’ album was so monumental. All us artists here adore you — you are our light.” Standing in the front row, alongside her husband Jay Z and daughter Blue Ivy, Beyoncé wept back.
Miscarriages of artistic justice are common at the Grammys, where awards are usually handed out to the safest and biggest-selling artists. (Indeed, Beyoncé’s nine nominations turned out to be a red herring of hipness, as she walked away with just two awards.) But with her acceptance speech, Adele managed to give the world a lesson in graciousness — and, hopefully, she gave voters a reason to think harder about which box they check in the future.
In fairness to the Grammys, plenty of awards found worthy homes. Rising star Chance the Rapper was finally anointed by the music industry he’s made a point of avoiding. The Chicago rapper, a favorite of Barack Obama, was awarded three Grammys including the prestigious Best New Artist trophy and Best Rap Album for “Coloring Book.” Anyone still wondering who Chance was got a lively demonstration when he performed a vibrant medley of “How Great” and “All We Got,” backed with a gospel choir.
A big winner not in attendance was David Bowie. The late singer was awarded just one Grammy in his 50-year career, a 1985 win with “Jazzin For Blue Jean” in the not-so distinguished Best Video, Short Form category. But as it turned out, Sunday was the posthumous feast to end Bowie’s Grammy famine. His album “Blackstar” picked up five awards in total, with Best Rock Song being announced during the CBS broadcast.
Picking it up on his behalf, for some reason, was dance duo the Chainsmokers — which was not so much like seeing the artistic torch being passed on as it was seeing it get urinated on.
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