Adele wanted her performance of "Fastlove" during the George Michael tribute at Sunday’s Grammy Awards to be perfect. So when it wasn’t, she cursed, then started over on live TV.
"I’m sorry. I can’t mess this up for him," she said to the audience. "Can we start again?"
The second performance was flawless and heartfelt, as images of the late singer, who died on Christmas Day at age 53, played on the screen behind her.
Adele looked near tears as she finished, as the crowd received the performance with a standing ovation.
Later, when she won the award for song of the year for "Hello," Adele apologized again.
MOST READ ENTERTAINMENT NEWS THIS HOUR
"I really do apologize for swearing," she said. "George Michael, I love him. He means a lot to me. I’m sorry if I offended anyone."
Her expletive was bleeped on the CBS broadcast.
Adele opened the ceremony by performing the Grammy-winning megahit without a hitch.
But she suffered from poor sound when she performed her song "All I Ask" at last year’s Grammy ceremony. A microphone had fallen inside the piano used onstage, which made it sound out of tune. A Grammy spokeswoman said, however, there were no technical issues with Adele’s performances on Sunday, though.
Stars on Twitter were vocal with their support. Bette Midler wrote, "Adele taught us all a great lesson just now. If it’s not right? START OVER AND NAIL IT! And she did. Love you, girl."
Metallica also suffered sound problems Sunday. Guitarist James Hetfield’s microphone appeared to not function during half of the band’s performance with Lady Gaga.
RELATED STORIES:
Grammy Awards: Beyonce wows, Davie Bowie wins 4 awards
How Beyoncé pulled off that Grammy performance
Chance the Rapper wins his first Grammy
Chance the Rapper, Jennifer Hudson shine at Clive Davis’ pre-Grammy gala
Greg Kot’s Grammy predictions: Who will win, who got shafted
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers reunite for Grammy honor
Maren Morris, James Corden and dozens more test their voices at rehearsals for the 2017 Grammy Awards
Check out the latest movie reviews from Michael Phillips and the Chicago Tribune.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.