Her wins at the 59th annual Grammy awards in Los Angeles came after Adele repeatedly apologized for having to restart her tribute to George Michael during the show. She nearly apologized again after receiving the album of the year for 25.
“I can’t possibly accept this award,” Adele said, while using superlatives to describe how “monumental” Beyoncé’s Lemonade was.
“All us artists here adore you,” she said to Beyoncé, who was in the audience. “You are our light. And the way that 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.”
Adele walked off the stage having won all five of the awards she was nominated for. Her wins came at the end of a politically charged ceremony where rapper Busta Rhymes referred to Donald Trump as “President Agent Orange.”
After a night of hurried political statements, A Tribe Called Quest delivered a vigorous rebuke to the new presidential administration during a tribute to Phife Dawg, who died in March 2016. The group said the performance of We the People was also in honor of protesters.
The hip-hop group was joined by Rhymes who thanked “President Agent Orange” for “perpetuating evil in the United States”. The tribute ended with people of different races gathered on stage as Q-Tip repeatedly shouted: “Resist” as the camera faded to commercial.