Grammys 2017: winners, news, and biggest moments

Let the record show that no one appreciates a good time — or knows how to make one happen by sheer force of will — more than Rihanna.

The singer was nominated for eight Grammys — six for her album ANTI, one for being a featured artist on Kanye West’s “Famous,” and one for doing the same on Drake’s Views — and left the night empty-handed. This is a travesty, because ANTI is a fantastic departure from her usual pop anthems, not to mention her best album yet.

When Adele’s 25 was announced as the winner of Album of the Year at the 2017 Grammys, the singer had only just left the stage after accepting Record of the Year for “Hello.” Even she was stunned. After all, Adele and Beyoncé had both been nominated for Song of the Year, Record of the Year, and Album of the Year — and Adele swept all three categories.

“Hi guys,” she said weakly to the crowd, at the end of a ceremony that spanned more than three and a half hours of awards and performances (including two from herself). After crying through some acknowledgements, she said “winning this kind of feels like coming full circle,” but then showed some awareness of what many in the audience might be feeling, and turned her attention elsewhere.

As red carpet fashion goes, the Grammys tends to deliver some of the most uneven: Everything is either balls-to-the-wall camp or sedate black gowns, with very little in between. Obviously the camp offerings are the most fun to talk about — but there’s camp done well and there’s camp done just for the sake of camp. Here are few examples from Sunday’s Grammys red carpet that illustrate the fine line between the two.

There’s always that one dude in a mask. So CeeLo’s mask lights up, winning him the dubious honor of the most Transformers-inspired outfit tonight. Props to CeeLo for committing to his concept, but (a) this cannot be comfortable, and (b) he looks like he’s getting ready to do a whimsical living statue performance at some point in the evening. Bonus points for inspiring this perfect Twitter thread, though.

Beyoncé has never been shy about how fantastic she is, but lately she’s been really getting into the goddess imagery. Two weeks ago, she announced that she’s pregnant with twins in a photo essay filled with copious visual references to Venus, the Virgin Mary, and the African goddess Mami Wata.

And on Sunday night at the Grammys, she performed Lemonade’s “Love Draught” and “Sandcastles” in a virtuoso piece that drew heavily from multiple religious iconographies. Let’s take a look a few of them.

The 2017 Grammy Awards handed out 84 awards to the music industry’s best and brightest on Sunday. The major awards were handed out during the televised broadcast, but many were handed out before the big show began.

The big winner of the night was Adele, who took home five Grammys, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year for “Hello,” and, in a major upset, beat out Beyoncé for Album of the Year (25).

A Tribe Called Quest, Anderson .Paak, and Busta Rhymes gave President Donald Trump a new nickname at the 2017 Grammys: President Agent Orange.

”I wanna thank President Agent Orange for perpetuating all the evil that you’ve been perpetuating throughout the United States,” Busta Rhymes yelled out after entering the stage a couple minutes in to Tribe and .Paak’s electric joint performance. “I wanna thank President Agent Orange for your unsuccessful attempt at the Muslim ban. Now we come together!”

The Grammys’ tribute to Prince had to be an especially electric one in order to properly honor the Purple One’s unquantifiable contribution to music. And thanks to former Prince associates The Time and a ferociously committed Bruno Mars, it was.

The Time opened the tribute medley by donning gold blazers and performing “Jungle Love,” commanding the audience to dance it out. (“You got about 10 seconds to get up off of your asses, and I do mean everybody!”) And okay, sure, “Jungle Love” is technically The Time’s song and not Prince’s, but it’s such a memorable part of Purple Rain that it definitely belongs in the extended canon.

Last year, Adele’s live Grammys performance was notoriously derailed by technical difficulties and the challenge of singing live in a sound-rich environment.

When a similar fate threatened her this year, however, she wasn’t having it — because the technical difficulties came during her tribute to the late George Michael.

Lady Gaga rose to fame as a pop star, on the back of full-throated dance hits like “Bad Romance” and “Poker Face.” But Gaga always seemed to bristle slightly at the idea that she was a creation of the studio. As she’s shown over and over again, she can sing and has the training to back it up.

In recent years, as her album sales have failed to match the heights set by her first few releases, Gaga hasn’t let that stop her from taking over the music industry, genre by genre. Her collaborations with Tony Bennett crossed pop standards and the great American songbook off her list, but she’s also dabbled in country, hip-hop, and songs verging on rock. She’s a musical polyglot, and if she’s playing Bobby in a Tony-winning, gender-flipped revival of Company in the year 2022, I will be into it.

Katy Perry’s new single “Chained to the Rhythm” is a 21st-century disco bop, but as she reminded us through her performance at the 2017 Grammys, it also has a political streak — and she didn’t shy away from expressing as much on stage.

The singer took the stage doing her best “Mackenzie Davis in Halt and Catch Fire” cosplay in a New Wave style white tux and bleached blonde bob, but also wearing a prominent armband. The sparkling red lettering read “PERSIST,” no doubt in reference to the “nevertheless, she persisted” admonition that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell issued to Sen. Elizabeth Warren earlier in the week, when justifying the Senate’s vote to bar Warren from speaking further on Jeff Sessions’s confirmation hearing for attorney general. The phrase “she persisted” almost immediately became a feminist rallying cry.

God bless Saint Beyoncé.

One hour into the 2017 Grammys, the awards show needed saving. It was snoozy. Adele had opened the show with “Hello,” and her performance — while technically impressive — wasn’t exactly exciting. A few acts later, Ed Sheeran sang his new song “Shape of You” and used some cool looping technology, but it wasn’t anything too notable. Lukas Graham performed as well, but I’ve already completely forgotten it.

When the 2017 Grammy Awards are held on Sunday, February 12, only a handful of winners will be announced during the performance-filled ceremony that airs on live TV.

But the Grammys will hand out awards in literally dozens of less glamorous categories before the live broadcast begins.

The 59th annual Grammy Awards will air Sunday, February 12, on CBS, bringing with them a clash of musical titans, colliding musical genres, and tributes to Prince and George Michael.

Adele and Beyoncé are already the talk of the evening, as they’ll go toe to toe in four categories. Both women are also performing, as part of a lineup that runs the music industry gamut, with appearances from pop divas like Lady Gaga and Katy Perry as well as Chance the Rapper, Metallica, Daft Punk, and many more.

The music industry has been subject to seismic change in the last 15 years. People are consuming, finding, and purchasing music in new ways. The days of walking into a Sam Goody to purchase a physical album feel as anachronistic as dial tones.

That puts the Grammys in a weird position. They’ve had to evolve to reflect the fact that whatever mass music culture there was is now splitting into smaller and smaller niches. In doing so, The Grammys are now better known for huge, hyped performances than they’re known for their winners.