It was Adele’s night. But it happened in Beyoncé’s world.
That was the takeaway of Sunday’s 59th Grammy Awards, where the young British singer won three of the music industry’s biggest prizes — album, record and song of the year — yet seemed overshadowed by the visionary multimedia star she described as her idol.
Accepting the album of the year award for “25,” her blockbuster set of personal, old-fashioned pop ballads, Adele said she couldn’t rightfully take the Grammy knowing that it came at the expense of “Lemonade,” Beyoncé’s album connecting one woman’s marital troubles to the wider cultural struggle faced by women of color.
“You are our light,” Adele told Beyoncé, who looked on with an expression of queenly gratitude.
It wasn’t the only moment in Sunday’s show, broadcast live on CBS from Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, in which Adele seemed to wobble under the pressure of her position — and Beyoncé thrived in the spotlight.
Opening the production with a performance of her hit single “Hello,” Adele had trouble nailing a couple of notes, instantly bringing to mind her flawed performance on last year’s show.
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She quickly locked in, but things went worse when she returned to pay tribute to the late George Michael by doing his song “Fastlove” — and then, about a minute in, had to stop the song and start again, dropping an F-bomb in the process.
“I’m sorry if I offended anyone,” she said, a wild look of fear in her eyes.
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Beyoncé, on a throne, performs at the 59th Grammy Awards.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Beyoncé
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Spotlights set the mood as Beyoncé performs onstage at the Grammys.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Beyonce walk between a row of baground performers.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Beyonce and background performers.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Beyonce performs “Love Drought” at the 59th Grammy Awards.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Beyoncé performs at the 59th Grammy Awards.
(Matt Sayles / Invision / Associated Press)
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Beyoncé
(Matt Sayles / Invision / Associated Press)
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Dancers and background performers reah towards a pregnant Beyonce
(Kevin Winter / Getty Images for NARAS)
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Beyonce basks in the glow of her Grammys performance.
(Kevin Winter / Getty Images for NARAS)
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Beyonce smiles as the audience applauds.
(Kevin Winter / Getty Images for NARAS)
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Beyonce performs as she is pregnant with twins during the 59th Grammy Awards.
In contrast, Beyoncé was a study in composure during a stunning medley of two songs from “Lemonade” — the slinky “Love Drought” and the pensive “Sandcastles” — that depicted the singer, who recently announced that she’s pregnant with twins, as a kind of spiritual earth mother.
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Dressed in a flowing gown and elaborate head piece, Beyoncé moved slowly but surely down a long runway surrounded by female dancers, then took a seat in a wooden chair that reclined nearly 90 degrees over empty space — all while she continued to sing powerfully and with palpable emotion in her voice.
The performance was a masterful display of strength and delicacy, intelligence and feeling — one she pulled off not in spite of her changing body but because of it.
Elsewhere in the show Beyoncé won the award for urban contemporary album and spoke eloquently in her acceptance speech about the need to confront ideas that make us uncomfortable and her determination to give voice to others’ pain.
Adele’s domination of the major categories — she also took pop solo performance and pop vocal album — was in keeping with the Grammys’ longstanding preference for tradition over innovation.
(This year several of pop’s most vibrant creators, including the R&B singer Frank Ocean and the rapper Drake, elected to skip the show, with Ocean saying publicly that the Grammys don’t celebrate success the way he sees it.)
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Adele reacts to winning the award for song of the year for “Hello.” She also won record of the year.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Adele onstage after winning Album of the Year for “25.”
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Bruno Mars performs a tribute to Prince at the 59th Grammy Awards.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Chance the Rapper performs with a choir and Kirk Franklin.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Sturgill Simpson with The Dap Kings performs “All Around You.”
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Sturgill Simpson with The Dap Kings.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Cynthia Erivo, right, and John Legend
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Chance the Rapper
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Bruno Mars and Morris Day during the Prince tribute.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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A Tribe Called Quest with Anderson .Paak performs at the 59th Grammy Awards.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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A Tribe Called Quest and Anderson .Paak perform at the Grammys.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Songwriters Adele and Greg Kurstin accept the song of the year award for “Hello.”
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Pentatonix performs at the 59th Grammy Awards at Staples Center.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Andra Day performs during a tribute to the Bee Gees.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Little Big Town perform during the Bee Gees tribute.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Demi Lovato performs during a tribute to the Bee Gees.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Tori Kelly performs during a tribute to the Bee Gees.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Jimi Westbrook, left, Kimberly Schlapman, Karen Fairchild and Philip Sweet of group Little Big Town, and Demi Lovato, Andra Day and Tori Kelly perform a tribute to the Bee Gees.
(Kevin Winter / Getty Images for NARAS)
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Metallica and Lady Gaga perform onstage during the Grammys.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Lady Gaga crowd surfs while performing with Metallica.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Adele pays tribute to George Michael at the Grammys.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Beyonce accepts the award for best urban contemporary album for “Lemonade.”
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Katy Perry performs “Chained to the Rhythm” at the Grammys.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Bruno Mars performs “That’s What I Like” at the Grammy Awards.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Beyoncé performs at the 59th Grammy Awards.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Beyonce performed “Love Drought.”
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Beyoncé leans back on a throne-like chair while performing at the 59th Grammy Awards.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Lukas Graham and Kelsea Ballerini perform a mash-up of “7 Years” and “Peter Pan” at the Grammys.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Twenty One Pilots wins for pop duo/group performance for “Stressed Out.”
(Invision / Associated Press)
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Ed Sheehan
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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The Weeknd performs with Daft Punk.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Paris Jackson introduces The Weeknd.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Chance the Rapper wins the rap album Grammy.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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James Corden hosts the 59th Grammy Awards at Staples Center.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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James Corden performs with backup dancers.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Margaret Cho at the 59th Grammy Awards pre-telecast show at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Members of Northern Cree perform at the pre-telecast show.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Carla Morrison performs at Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles at the pre-telecast show for the Grammy Awards.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Jesse Huerta and Joy Huerta of Jesse & Joy after winning the Grammy for Latin pop album.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Sarah Jarosz accepts the award for folk album.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Bobby Rush accepts his Grammy for traditional blues album.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Fantastic Negrito wins the award for contemporary blues album.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Patton Oswalt wins for comedy album at the pre-telecast show.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Chance the Rapper after winning the rap performance award for “No Problem.”
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Chance the Rapper takes the stage after winning the rap performance award for “No Problem.”
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Kalani Pe’a, at the Grammys’ pre-telecast show, wins the award for regional music album.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Sturgill Simpson picks up the award for country album.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Judy Collins performs at the pre-telecast show for the 59th Grammy Awards at the Microsoft Theater.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Emily Weisband at the Grammy Awards pre-telecast show.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Tamela Mann, left, wins for gospel performance/song for “God Provides” at the Grammy Awards pre-telecast show.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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White Sun, which won in the New Age category for its album “White Sun II,” is seen onstage at the Grammy Awards pre-telecast show.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Hillary Scott, second from left, and the Scott Family with their award for contemporary Christian music album.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Kirk Franklin accepts his Grammy for gospel album for “Losing My Religion.”
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Cynthia Erivo, center, of “The Color Purple” speaks for the winners for musical theater album at the 59th Grammy Awards pre-telecast show at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Jacob Collier wins at the 59th Grammy Awards pre-telecast show at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Luke Smallbone, left, Lauren Daigle and Joel Smallbone at the 59th Grammy Awards pre-telecast show at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Graphic designer Jonathan Barnbrook wins the recording package award for David Bowie’s “Blackstar” at the 59th Grammy Awards pre-telecast show at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Robert Glasper and Steve Berkowitz at the 59th Grammy Awards pre-telecast show at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Yet again and again Sunday, it was the traditionalists who seemed shaken while disruptors found solid ground.
A collaboration between the country star Kelsea Ballerini and Lukas Forchhammer of the Danish pop-soul band Lukas Graham — two young singers lovingly mining old styles — felt woefully free of chemistry, while a tribute to the Bee Gees on the 40th anniversary of “Saturday Night Fever” had vocal power but little of the Bee Gees’ silky rhythmic drive.
Performing Metallica’s “Moth Into Flame” with help from Lady Gaga (for some hard-to-fathom reason), that band’s James Hetfield encountered a malfunctioning microphone.
And then there was the retro-minded country singer Sturgill Simpson, a left-field nominee for album of the year with his excellent “A Sailor’s Guide to Earth,” looking deeply uncomfortable as he performed in front of a small orchestra.
In contrast, Chance the Rapper, named best new artist, seemed to beam determination in his lively rendition of several tunes from his album “Coloring Book,” which upended record-industry convention by being available only to stream, not to buy.
Chance the Rapper performs.
(Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
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Katy Perry was sneakily effective doing “Chained to the Rhythm,” her new single that might have been inspired by the rise of fake news in last year’s divisive election cycle.
“Dance to the distortion,” she sang, “Keep it on repeat, stumbling around like a wasted zombie.”
A clearer political moment came from A Tribe Called Quest, the groundbreaking hip-hop group, which rampaged through its song “We the People…” — about who rightfully belongs in America — as a long line of people of color marched around the rappers.
To finish the song, the group’s featured guest, Busta Rhymes, addressed “President Agent Orange,” calling attention to what he described as the “evil you’ve been perpetuating” around the world.
