It was a good night for Adele, Chance the Rapper and the late David Bowie. Not so much for Canadian artists like Justin Bieber and Drake.
Bieber came up empty at the 59th Grammy Awards on Sunday, despite being nominated in four categories. The pop superstar didn't attend the show, which took place in Los Angeles.
Drake, with eight nominations this year, earned only a pair — Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best Rap Song for “Hotline Bling.” The rapper missed the Grammys because he’s on tour in the UK.
Adele opened the show with a performance of “Hello” and made headlines later in the show by stopping her tribute to George Michael and starting all over. She also collected Grammys for Album of the Year (25), Song of the Year (“Hello”), Record of the Year ("Hello"), Best Pop Vocal Album (25), Pop Solo Performance (“Hello”).
While accepting the Album of the Year honour, Adele paid an emotional tribute to Beyoncé, calling Lemonade "so momumental," "beautiful" and "soul baring."
Since 2009, Adele has won 15 Grammy Awards.
MORE: Best & Worst Moments At 2017 Grammy Awards
David Bowie, who died in January 2016 at 69, won his first Grammys in music categories on Sunday. His final release, Blackstar, was named the Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical — an award Bowie shares with four collaborators — and Best Alternative Music Album. The title track won Best Rock Song and Best Rock Performance.
Jonathan Barnbrook won Best Recording Package for Blackstar.
Chance the Rapper picked up Best New Artist and Best Rap Album after winning Best Rap Performance.
Beyoncé didn’t set a Grammy record, but the pregnant superstar won Best Urban Contemporary Album (Lemonade) and earned a standing ovation for her performance of “Love Drought” and “Sandcastles.”
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"Thank you for honouring Lemonade," she said. "This is incredible."
Beyoncé added: "We all experience pain and loss and often we become inaudible ... My intention was to give a voice to our pain and to confront images that make us uncomfortable."
At the pre-show, the video for Beyoncé’s “Formation,” directed by Melina Matsoukas, was named Best Music Video.
Her sister Solange’s “Cranes In The Sky” earned a Grammy for Best R&B Performance, beating artists like Rihanna.
The Grammy for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance went to Twenty One Pilots for "Stressed Out." Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun stripped off their pants before going up on stage.
Joseph explained that, years ago, they vowed to accept their first Grammy in their underwear.
"Anyone from anywhere can do anything," said Joseph. "And this is that.”
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“Come And See Me” by Mississauga, Ont.’s PARTYNEXTDOOR feat. Drake and “Luv” by Toronto’s Tory Lanez both lost Best R&B Song to Maxwell’s “Lake By The Ocean.”
Drake collaborator Nineteen85 (aka Toronto’s Anthony Paul Jefferies) lost Producer of the Year to Greg Kurstin, who worked on tracks last year by Adele, Sia and Canada’s Tegan and Sara.
A remix of “Tearing Me Up” by Bob Moses, a duo made up of Vancouver’s Tom Howie and Jimmy Vallance, earned Portugal’s André Allen Anjos a Grammy in the Best Remixed Recording category.
The track beat a remix of Paul McCartney’s “Nineteen Hundred Eighty-Five” by Timo Maas and Calgary native James Teej.
But, “Tearing Me Up” lost Best Dance Recording to “Don’t Let Me Down” by The Chainsmokers feat. Daya, which also topped “Never Be Like You” by Flume featuring Toronto’s Kai.
Other Canadian nominees going home empty-handed are Montreal native Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who lost in the Best Opera Recording category, and Toronto’s ARC Ensemble, who failed to take home the Grammy for Best Chamber/Small Ensemble Performance.
Real Enemies by Vancouver’s Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society lost Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album and It’s A Cree Thing by Alberta’s Northern Cree lost Best Regional Roots Album.
Keith Urban’s “Blue Ain’t Your Colour” — co-written by Steven Lee Olsen of Newmarket, Ont. — lost Best Country Song to Tim McGraw’s “Humble and Kind.”
The live show, which was hosted by James Corden, featured several memorable performances — including Katy Perry’s debut of “Chained to the Rhythm” — as well as tributes to the late George Michael and Prince and to the 40th anniversary of Saturday Night Fever.
Audio problems plagued Metallica’s performance with Lady Gaga and the audience boo’ed when Adele’s fellow “Hello” writer Greg Kurstin was cut off before he could give his thanks.
Canadian content came in the form of presenter Celine Dion and a performance of “I Feel It Coming” by The Weeknd, backed by Daft Punk.
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Canadian music was also well represented in the pre-show’s performances.
Northern Cree took the stage to perform “Cree Cuttin’” and stayed to back-up Mexican singer Carla Morrison.
Earlier, veteran American singer Judy Collins performed a tribute to Canada’s Leonard Cohen, who died in November at 82.
“He came into my living room and he said ‘I cant play the guitar and I can’t sing and I don’t know if this is a song.’ And then he sang me this,” Collins recalled, before doing a rendition of “Suzanne” — 51 years after she recorded it for her album In My Life.
(On Saturday night, Collins performed “Both Sides Now” in a tribute to another Canadian music icon, Joni Mitchell, at Clive Davis’ annual pre-Grammy bash.)
Sunday's early double winners included Lalah Hathaway (R&B Album, Traditional R&B Performance), Sarah Jarosz (Folk Album, American Roots Performance), and Jacob Collier (Arrangement Instrumental or A Capella, Arrangement Instruments and Vocals).
Sturgill Simpson’s A Sailor's Guide To Earth was named Best Country Album and Maren Morris picked up her first ever Grammy, for Best Country Solo Performance.
An emotional Hillary Scott of country act Lady Antebellum claimed Grammys for Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song (“Thy Will”) and Contemporary Christian Album (Love Remains). The album, by Hillary Scott and The Scott Family, was produced by Ricky Scaggs.
Vince Gill accepted the Best Americana Song Grammy for writing “Kid Sister” for The Time Jumpers.
“Can’t Stop The Feeling,” Justin Timberlake’s hit single from the movie Trolls, won the Grammy for Best Song Written For Visual Media.
The 59th Grammy Awards recognize the year’s best music in 84 categories. This year, more than two dozen Canadians were nominated in 19 categories.
Click here for the full list of nominees and winners.