The 59th Annual Grammy Awards were handed out on February 12, 2017, during a live ceremony broadcast on CBS and hosted by Tony and Emmy winning “Late Late Show” star James Corden. Most of the awards were handed out at the online-streamed Premiere Ceremony hosted by Margaret Cho, leaving just nine categories and a slew of performances for the main event.
So what do you think of this year’s crop of winners (and losers) from the 2017 Grammys? Read our live blog on the telecast categories below, and check out the complete list of winners.
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ALBUM OF THE YEAR
It was another clean sweep for the beloved Adele at the Grammys. She won all five of her nominations, and when she won Album of the Year for “25” — her second victory in the category following “21” just five years ago — she admitted that she was rooting for Beyonce to win for her cultural and critical sensation “Lemonade.” To date Adele has won 15 Grammys, and she hasn’t lost once since 2010.
RECORD OF THE YEAR
It was less surprising when Adele took Record of the Year for “Hello.” We had anticipated that result. It’s her second win in this category following her victory for “Rolling in the Deep” in 2012.
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SONG OF THE YEAR
Adele won this award for the second time for “Hello,” following her victory five years ago for “Rolling in the Deep” (2012). She co-wrote the song with Greg Kurstin, who earlier in the evening won the Grammy for Producer of the Year at the Premiere Ceremony that streamed online before the main event.
BEST RAP ALBUM
Chance the Rapper pulled off a major upset to win this award for “Coloring Book.” He was up against Drake (“Views”), who contended for Album of the Year. In previous years, an Album of the Year nominated rap album has always won Best Rap Album. But don’t feel too bad for Drake: he won Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best Rap Song for “Hotline Bling.”
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BEST URBAN CONTEMPORARY ALBUM
Beyonce won for “Lemonade” as expected. It was her first victory of the telecast after winning Best Music Video at the Premiere Ceremony. I was also her 22nd win, which placed her among the top 10 most awarded artists in Grammy history.
BEST COUNTRY SOLO PERFORMANCE
Singer-songwriter Maren Morris prevailed for her breakthrough single “My Church.” It’s the first Grammy victory for Morris, who was nominated four times this year, including Best New Artist. She overtook multiple Grammy winning country stars Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert.
Grammy Best New Artist Gallery: All 56 Winners in Music History
BEST ROCK SONG
The award for best songwriting in rock music went to David Bowie (“Blackstar”). He won three other awards during the Premiere Ceremony — Best Rock Performance, Best Alternative Album and Best Engineered Album — and “Blackstar” also won Best Recording Package. That’s a clean sweep for the late, great artist. Before today he had only ever won one Grammy: Best Music Video for “Jazzin’ for Blue Jean” (1985).
BEST POP DUO/GROUP PERFORMANCE
Twenty One Pilots earned five nominations this year and claimed this prize for their hit “Stressed Out,” which is also nominated for Record of the Year. This was a tough race, which included two other nominees for Record of the Year: “Work” by Rihanna and Drake and “7 Years” by Lukas Graham. Upon hearing their names called the duo stripped down to their undies as they vowed they would do if they ever won a Grammy.
Grammy Album of the Year: All 58 Winners in Music History
BEST NEW ARTIST
Chance the Rapper prevailed in the race for Best New Artist, which makes him a rare hip-hop artist to win that prize. Previous rappers who took that award were Arrested Development (1993) and Macklemore and Ryan Lewis (2014). Lauryn Hill also won in 1999 for fusing rap and R&B styles. Chance the Rapper was the most nominated performer in that category with seven total bids, of which he also won Best Rap Performance (“No Problem”), an award handed out during the Premiere Ceremony.
