The singer, who opened the show with a performance of Hello, which earned her Record and Song of the Year, and Best Pop Solo Performance, ended the ceremony with a selfless tribute to her “idol”, Beyonce.
Clearly shocked to win the night’s Album of the Year prize – over Beyonce’s Lemonade – Adele hit the stage at the Staples Center in tears and gushed about the R&B superstar, who was standing in the front row with her husband Jay Z.
“I can’t possibly accept this award and I’m very humbled and I’m very grateful and gracious but my artist of my life is Beyonce and this album to me, this Lemonade album, was just so monumental…,” she said, “and so well thought out and so beautiful and soul-bearing and we all got to see another side to you that you don’t always get to see, and we appreciate that.
“All us artists here… adore you. You are our light. And the way 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.”
Accepting the Record of the Year prize minutes earlier, she told Beyonce, “You move my soul every single day, and you have done for nearly 17 years. I adore you… and I want you be my mummy!”
David Bowie was another five-award winner, picking up posthumous honours for his final album Blackstar, which was released just days before his death last year (16).
Adele was a show-stopper too – quite literally when she insisted on restarting her Fast Love tribute to George Michael due to sound issues. Double award winner Beyonce was also among the night’s performance highlights as she stunned with a very powerful performance of Love Drought and Sandcastles.
Meanwhile, Chance The Rapper picked up a triple for Best Rap Album, Best New Artist, and Best Rap Performance, and others celebrating multiple victories included Drake, Lalah Hathaway, and folk singer Sarah Jarosz.
The night was also all about amazing performances, tributes, and collaborations as Alicia Keys and Maren Morris teamed up, Lady Gaga hit the stage with Metallica, and Demi Lovato, Andra Day, Tori Kelly, and Little Big Town saluted the music of the Bee Gees. But the night’s highlight was Bruno Mars’ tribute to Prince. Dressed as the late music icon during his Purple Rain era, the Gorilla singer and his band ripped through a note-perfect rendition of Let’s Go Crazy, complete with a stirring guitar solo on a signature Prince axe.
The full list of winners is:
Record Of The Year
Hello – Adele
Album Of The Year
25 – Adele
Song Of The Year
Hello – Adele (Adele Adkins & Greg Kurstin, songwriters)
Best New Artist
Chance The Rapper
Best Pop Solo Performance
Hello – Adele
Best Pop Duo/Group Performance
Stressed Out – Twenty One Pilots
Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album
Summertime: Willie Nelson Sings Gershwin – Willie Nelson
Best Pop Vocal Album
25 – Adele
Best Dance Recording
Don’t Let Me Down – The Chainsmokers featuring Daya
Best Dance/Electronic Album
Skin – Flume
Best Contemporary Instrumental Album
Culcha Vulcha – Snarky Puppy
Best Rock Performance
Blackstar – David Bowie
Best Metal Performance
Dystopia – Megadeth
Best Rock Song
Blackstar – David Bowie
Best Rock Album
Tell Me I’m Pretty – Cage The Elephant
Best Alternative Music Album
Blackstar – David Bowie
Best R&B Performance
Cranes In The Sky – Solange
Best Traditional R&B Performance
Angel – Lalah Hathaway
Best R&B Song
Lake By The Ocean – Maxwell (Hod David & Musze, songwriters)
Best Urban Contemporary Album
Lemonade – Beyonce
Best R&B Album
Lalah Hathaway Live – Lalah Hathaway
Best Rap Performance
No Problem – Chance The Rapper featuring Lil Wayne & 2 Chainz
Best Rap/Sung Performance
Hotline Bling – Drake
Best Rap Song
Hotline Bling – Drake (Aubrey Graham & Paul Jefferies, songwriters)
Best Rap Album
Coloring Book – Chance The Rapper
Best Country Solo Performance
My Church – Maren Morris
Best Country Duo/Group Performance
Jolene – Pentatonix featuring Dolly Parton
Best Country Song
Humble And Kind – Tim MCGraw (Lori MCKenna, songwriter)
Best Country Album
A Sailor’s Guide To Earth – Sturgill Simpson
Best New Age Album
White Sun II – White Sun
Best Improvised Jazz Solo
I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry – John Scofield
Best Jazz Vocal Album
Take Me To The Alley – Gregory Porter
Best Jazz Instrumental Album
Country For Old Men – John Scofield
Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album
Presidential Suite: Eight Variations On Freedom – Ted Nash Big Band
Best Latin Jazz Album
Tribute To Irakere: Live In Marciac – Chucho Valdes
Best Gospel Performance/Song
God Provides – Tamela Mann (Kirk Franklin, songwriter)
Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song
Thy Will – Hillary Scott & The Scott Family (Bernie Herms, Hillary Scott & Emily Weisband, songwriters)
Best Gospel Album
Losing My Religion – Kirk Franklin
Best Contemporary Christian Music Album
Love Remains – Hillary Scott & The Scott Family
Best Roots Gospel Album
Hymns – Joey+Rory
Best Latin Pop Album
Un Besito Mas – Jesse & Joy
Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album
iLevitable – iLe
Best Regional Mexican Music Album
Un Azteca En El Azteca, Vol. 1 (En Vivo) – Vicente Fernandez
Best Tropical Latin Album
Donde Estan? – Jose Lugo & Guasabara Combo
Best American Roots Performance
House Of Mercy – Sarah Jarosz
Best American Roots Song
Kid Sister – Kid Sister (Vince Gill, songwriter)
Best Americana Album
This Is Where I Live – William Bell
Best Bluegrass Album
Coming Home – O’Connor Band With Mark O’Connor
Best Traditional Blues Album
Porcupine Meat – Bobby Rush
Best Contemporary Blues Album
The Last Days Of Oakland – Fantastic Negrito
Best Folk Album
Undercurrent – Sarah Jarosz
Best Regional Roots Music Album
E Walea – Kalani Pe’a
Best Reggae Album
Ziggy Marley – Ziggy Marley
Best World Music Album
Sing Me Home – Yo-Yo Ma & The Silk Road Ensemble
Best Children’s Album
Infinity Plus One – Secret Agent 23 Skidoo
Best Spoken Word Album
In Such Good Company: Eleven Years Of Laughter, Mayhem, And Fun In The Sandbox – Carol Burnett
Best Comedy Album
Talking For Clapping – Patton Oswalt
Best Musical Theater Album
The Color Purple (Danielle Brooks, Cynthia Erivo & Jennifer Hudson, principal soloists; Stephen Bray, Van Dean, Frank Filipetti, Roy Furman, Joan Raffe, Scott Sanders & Jhett Tolentino, producers)
Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media
Miles Ahead – Miles Davis & Various Artists (Steve Berkowitz, Don Cheadle & Robert Glasper, compilation producers)
Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media
Star Wars: The Force Awakens – John Williams
Best Song Written For Visual Media
Can’t Stop The Feeling! – Justin Timberlake (Max Martin, Shellback & Justin Timberlake, songwriters)
Best Instrumental Composition
Spoken At Midnight – Ted Nash Big Band
Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella
You And I – Jacob Collier (Jacob Collier, arranger)
Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals
Flintstones – Jacob Collier (Jacob Collier, arranger)
Best Recording Package
Blackstar – David Bowie (Jonathan Barnbrook, art director)
Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package
Edith Piaf 1915-2015 – Edith Piaf (Gerard Lo Monaco, art director)
Best Album Notes
Sissle And Blake Sing Shuffle Along – Eubie Blake & Noble Sissle (Ken Bloom & Richard Carlin, album notes writers)
Best Historical Album
The Cutting Edge 1965-1966: The Bootleg Series, Vol.12 (Collector’s Edition) – Bob Dylan (Steve Berkowitz & Jeff Rosen, compilation producers; Mark Wilder, mastering engineer)
Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical
Blackstar – David Bowie (David Bowie, Tom Elmhirst, Kevin Killen & Tony Visconti, engineers; Joe LaPorta, mastering engineer)
Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical
Greg Kurstin
Best Remixed Recording
Tearing Me Up (RAC Remix) – Bob Moses (Andre Allen Anjos, remixer)
Best Surround Sound Album
Dutilleux: Sur Le Meme Accord; Les Citations; Mystere De L’instant & Timbres, Espace, Mouvement (Alexander Lipay & Dmitriy Lipay, surround mix engineers; Dmitriy Lipay, surround mastering engineer; Dmitriy Lipay, surround producer)
Best Engineered Album, Classical
Corigliano: The Ghosts Of Versailles (Mark Donahue, Fred Vogler & David L Williams, engineers)
Producer Of The Year, Classical
David Frost
Best Orchestral Performance
Shostakovich: Under Stalin’s Shadow – Symphonies Nos. 5, 8 & 9 (Andris Nelsons, conductor; Boston Symphony Orchestra)
Best Opera Recording
Corigliano: The Ghosts Of Versailles (James Conlon, conductor; LA Opera Orchestra; LA Opera Chorus)
Best Choral Performance
Penderecki Conducts Penderecki, Volume 1 (Krzysztof Penderecki, conductor; Henryk Wojnarowski, choir director; Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra; Warsaw Philharmonic Choir)
Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance
Steve Reich – Third Coast Percussion
Best Classical Instrumental Solo
Daugherty: Tales Of Hemingway (Zuill Bailey/Nashville Symphony)
Best Classical Solo Vocal Album
Schumann & Berg (Dorothea Roschmann; Mitsuko Uchida, accompanist) & Shakespeare Songs (Ian Bostridge; Antonio Pappano, accompanist
Best Classical Compendium
Daugherty: Tales Of Hemingway; American Gothic; Once Upon A Castle (Giancarlo Guerrero, conductor
Best Contemporary Classical Composition
Daugherty: Tales Of Hemingway by Michael Daugherty, composer (Zuill Bailey, Giancarlo Guerrero & Nashville Symphony)
Best Music Video
Formation – Beyonce (Melina Matsoukas, video director)
Best Music Film
The Beatles: Eight Days A Week The Touring Years (Ron Howard, director)
Trustees Award
Thom Bell, Mo Ostin, and Ralph S. Peer
Lifetime Achievement
Charley Pride, Nina Simone, Velvet Underground, Shirley Caesar, Ahmad Jamal, Jimmie Rodgers, Sylvester Stone.
