Soul singer Adele triumphed in her return to music’s stage on Sunday, scooping up six Grammys and winning every category in which she was nominated including album of the year for “21” and best record with “Rolling In the Deep.”
As joyous as the show was for Adele, it was equally as serious with tributes to late pop star Whitney Houston, who died suddenly on Saturday. She was remembered by fellow artists in acceptance speeches and songs. Jennifer Hudson sang Houston’s signature hit, “I Will Always Love You,” and Grammy host LL Cool J offered a prayer for Houston’s family, friends and fans.
But it was Adele who stole the show. The 23-year-old, who has taken the music world by storm, underwent surgery on her vocal cords late last year and had been resting her voice on doctor’s orders until music’s biggest night. For the first time since then, the British singer took the stage to belt out “Rolling In the Deep” and finished to a standing ovation.
Adele claimed three of the music industry’s top awards – album, record and song of the year – and added best pop solo performance, pop vocal and short video to her stack of trophies.
Tearing up and having difficulty speaking as she took the stage to claim the night’s top award, album of the year, Adele talked about “21” and its heartfelt songs dreamed up after a failed love affair.
“This record is inspired by something that is really normal and everyone’s been through it, just a rubbish relationship, and it’s gone on to do things I can’t tell you how I feel about it, it’s been the most life-changing year.”
Indeed, her sophomore album has sold more than 6.3 million copies in the United States and broken many sales records, including spending 19 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart. Now it can add the Grammys to its many accolades.
Foo Fighters Take Five Home
Rockers Foo Fighters were the other big winners, picking up five Grammys including best rock performance for the hit “Walk.”
“This is a great honor because this record was a special record for our band. Rather than go to the best studio … we made this one in my garage with some microphones and a tape machine,” said frontman Dave Grohl. “It shows that the human element of making music is what’s most important.”
