[tv is my anti-drug. oh, wait.]
The BAFTAs and the Grammys are on the same night this year. I'm recapping the Grammys, despite the fact that I probably don't know any of the songs. The duets between unexpected artists have become something of a highlight.
I take it back, I do know (and really like) at least one of the songs, because we open with Adele singing "Hello". Her gown is a long-sleeved thing that looks like stained glass on top, and then the skirt is long and black and sparkly. It's nice.
James Corden is our actual host tonight, and there's this slow-mo thing of him getting tricked out in a pale gray tux jacket and dark pants. He's on a moving platform that's supposed to take him to the top of a staircase, but it stops partway up and he has to climb out of it. And then he takes a fall down the stairs and by now it's clear that this is a bit rather than a mechanical failure. There are dancing girls, and he dances with them for a few steps and then calls a halt and rants about it, which segues into him rapping about how he's not good enough for the Grammys. If you ask me, this goes on way too long. I also think he's kind of a terrible rapper, but it's not like I'd know.
Jennifer Lopez is here. She is wearing something pale pink which is slit way up the side and looks like her head is being swallowed by a giant puff of tulle attached to her halter top. She quotes Toni Morrison. Best New Artist: Chance the Rapper. Also nominated: Kelsea Ballerini, the Chainsmokers, Maren Morris, Anderson Paak. I think Jennifer's in-ear monitor isn't working or something, Chance is wearing a pale gray outfit, not a suit but skinny pants and a short jacket and a tie with a white shirt. He thanks God a lot.
Paris Jackson is wearing...is that even a dress? It looks like a halter top bathing suit with an attached skirt. And some flower things in her hair. She introduces the Weeknd, who is performing with Daft Punk (whom Paris refers to as his "robot friends" :)). There are lots of blue and purple lights here, also synthesizers and smoke machines. It's cool.
John Travolta, why are you here? John here has some shiny things hanging around his neck. He freely admits he can't read the teleprompter because it's too far away. He introduces Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood. Hi Keith, nice to see you, but your Sun-In addiction is out of control.
Keith is wearing all black and looks fine. Carrie is wearing something very short and tight and silvery (I think it's silvery stretch lace, it's hard to tell with all the flashy lights) and looks fantastic.
Nick Jonas is wearing an enormous jacket thing that makes no sense. Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: "Stressed Out", 21 Pilots. Also nominated: Closer (the Chainsmokers and Haley), 7 Years (Lukas Graham), Work (Rihanna and Drake), Cheap Thrills (Sia and Sean Paul). 21 Pilots are two dudes who are probably not pilots. They are wearing suit/tux jackets and, um, no pants. The dude who does the talking explains that back before they were famous, they watched the Grammys together this one time and they looked around the room and realized that they were in a room full of people in their underwear? so they decided that if they ever won a Grammy they would accept the awards in their unmentionables? Whatever, guys. Congrats.
And we're back, and now James is also in his underwear. Thanks, 21 Pilots dudes.
James introduces Ed Sheeran. He performed last night on SNL and this is the same song. I tend to file Ed here under "doesn't suck but I wouldn't go out of my way to listen to his music".
Katherine McPhee and the Chainsmokers are here. The Chainsmokers are two dudes, but they are wearing their pants. Best Rock Song: Blackstar (David Bowie). Also nominated: Burn The Witch (Radiohead), Hardwired (Metallica), Heathens (21 Pilots), My Name Is Human (...some guy or guys). Kat and the dudes with pants accept the award on David Bowie's behalf without a lot of gone-too-soon fanfare.
Ryan Secrest is here. He is apparently the "Grammy Nomination Honorary Chair". He presents the Grammy Music Educators Award to Keith Hancock, a choir director from California.
Kelsea Ballerini and Lukas Forchammer (the lead singer of Danish pop band Lukas Graham) are singing together. I do not know who either of these people are or why I should care. Lukas looks and sounds quite young and has a dark red jacket and a lot of emotions. Kelsea is also quite young, and I think she's singing out of synch with the instrumentalists. This song is failing to hold my interest. It is about making friends as a little kid and probably some other things.
Tina Knowles is here to talk about being blessed to have daughters. She is proud of their accomplishments, their self-confidence, and the way they express love to other people. She introduces Beyonce, and, okay, that's kind of sweet.
I have no hope of being able to say anything useful about Beyonce's performance. Go look it up on YouTube.
Camila Cabello and Thomas Rhett. I do not know who these people are, which suggests that they might be country stars. Camila has a big silver ballgown. Best Country Solo Performance: "My Church", Maren Morris. Also nominated: Love Can Go To Hell (Brandy Clark), Vice (Miranda Lambert), something by Keith Urban, Church Bells (Carrie Underwood). Maren talks about having gone to the first-ever Grammy camp. Her gown is purple, and the top of it looks like it might be stretch lace. Keith, by the way, appears to be very happy for her victory.
There is a stupid bit with James Corden being contractually obligated to wear a cardboard car, a reference to the "Carpool Karaoke" bit from his show which this bit claims is the only part of his show Grammy Awards viewers will be familiar with. James makes lots of artists get into the car with him, including Neil Diamond. They all sing "Sweet Caroline". Keith Urban is in the car and I think maybe he does not know the words except for 'Sweet Caroline'.
Thankfully this bit is over and we get a performance by Bruno Mars, who is always fun to watch. He looks like he's having a good time. Hi Bruno! I have no idea who those guys are who are singing with you, but this is not boring. Bruno and some dudes have wandered out onto a platform in the middle of the audience and they're doing some old-school pop harmony, and in between he is reminding all the ladies present that they look very beautiful in their new dresses.
Little Big Town are performing. I don't know them either. They are two women and two men and, at the moment, one guitar. They are doing a low-tech cover of "Teenage Dream" with lots of vocal harmony, as an introduction to Katy Perry's performance. Katy's hair is a short tousled blonde bob, and she's wearing what appears to be a white pantsuit with a longline black strapless bra under it. I'm not sure if this song is actually about anything. The performance features Skip Marley, who is also wearing a white pantsuit.
James is back, wearing a normal dark tux now (including pants). He does a stupid routine about Twitter and then introduces William Bell and Gary Clark Jr. They are singing "Born Under A Bad Sign" and they are awesome. William Bell apparently won a Grammy award today, but we don't get to see it.
Best Urban Contemporary Album: Lemonade (Beyonce). Also nominated: Ology (Gallant), We Are Kings (Kings), Malibu (Anderson Paak), Anti (Rihanna). I do not think there was much likelihood of anyone other than Beyonce winning this award. She is wearing the outfit from her performance. She is impossibly gorgeous. Her speech is about honoring history and learning from the past.
Gina Rodriguez! Hi Gina! She is so, so cute. She introduces Maren Morris and Alicia Keys. There is...a big chandelier over the stage. And Maren might be oversinging a bit. Alicia! Yay! Their vocal blend is not the best but it's a really strong effort. The song is a huge overblown power ballad, like if Jim Steinman wrote something for Aretha Franklin--it's called "Once" and the repeated line goes "don't forget that you loved me once". I like it.
James is back and is not snarking but is being sincerely very nice about George Michael. Adele is singing a 'new arrangement' of "Fastlove". She is wearing her hair up and a big dramatic black gown with capes and sleeves and things. And...partway through she makes a mistake, swears on camera (twice) and makes the music director begin the song over again, saying that this is too important and she can't mess it up "for him" (George).
Taraji P. Henson is here, wearing something very short and tight that look like it started out as purple satin and got things stuck to it and the shoulder seams tried to run away from the rest of it. Best Rap Album: "Coloring Books", Chance The Rapper. Also nominated: De La Soul, Drake, DJ Khaled, Schoolboy Q, Kanye West. I can't type fast enough to keep up with the album names. Chance says flat out that he didn't expect to win this award so doesn't have a speech prepared. He thanks God some more, and shouts out to some specific people and to independent artists in general.
James says that this is his parents' 45th wedding anniversary and that his parents are here. He goes to where they are, and James' dad has Heidi Klum parked on his lap. James, aghast, goes looking for his mum and finds her snuggling with Nick Jonas, who smirks and drapes his ridiculous enormous jacket over James' mum's shoulders. It's a cute bit.
The next presenter is Laverne Cox, who starts off her speech by telling us to Google Gavin Grimm. :( She then introduces Lady Gaga and Metallica. James Hetfield's mic is completely silenced. Like, 100% no sound. #techfail. Eventually they get it working again. I know intellectually that Metallica have aged along with the rest of us, but in my head they still look like they did when I was 17. Sigh.
Dwight Yoakam?! He is telling us about the award for Best Non-Classical Producer. Then he mentions Sharon Jones as a segue into introducing Sturgill Simpson who is performing with the Dap Kings' horn section. I have never heard of this guy, apparently he is some kind of crossover country-mainstream dude? and the sax player is just shredding. Awesome.
DNCE are here. This is Joe Jonas's band, and all of them except Joe tend to show up looking really weird. This time is no exception. Joe gets to do all he talking, and he doesn't do it very well.
They're introducing a Bee Gees tribute montage, which starts out with Demi Lovato singing "Stayin' Alive". She isn't awful. Keith Urban and Barry Gibb are both singing along in the audience.
Demi is replaced by Tori Kelly, singing a song I don't know. (There are in fact several Bee Gees songs I quite like, but none of them are the popular ones.) Tori sounds great, and, okay, once the chorus kicks in I do recognize this one, it's "Tragedy". Little Big Town come onstage to sing "How Deep Is Your Love", featuring solos by both of the Little Big dudes. One of them sounds good, one of them does not. Little Big Town's little big harmony vocals are actually perfect for this song.
Andra Day is wearing this awesome caftan cape thing. She is attempting to convince us that she has Night Fever and is not hitting a lot of the notes. Then all the other soloists come out onstage to sing "Stayin' Alive" again. Demi, Tori and Andra are having a lot of fun with it. Little Big Town does not quite know how to handle this.
Celine Dion! She's wearing a black gown with what looks like a safety harness over one shoulder. She talks about sitting with her husband Rene (RIP) when "My Heart Will Go On" won Song Of The Year. This year's Song Of The Year: Hello (Adele). Also nominated: Formation (Beyonce), I Took A Pill In Ibiza (Mike Posner), Love Yourself (Justin Bieber), 7 Years (Lukas Graham). Adele is now wearing this very interesting green gown with a crossover bodice thing. She apologizes again for swearing during the George Michael tribute. Onstage with her is Greg Kurstin (sp?) who won the Best Non-Classical Producer award for producing her album.
Anderson Paak and A Tribe Called Quest are performing with some other people whose name I did not catch. Taraji is rocking out in the audience.
Awwww. James is fanboying about getting to introduce The Time, who are in charge of the Prince tribute. <3 <3
We see the entire audience on their feet rocking out. Many of these people cannot dance. No one cares.
ohhhh, the opening monologue of "Let's Go Crazy". And here to perform the non-monologue part of the song is Bruno Mars in the sparkly purple jacket and poofy white shirt. Also a lot of extra eyeliner. Bless you, Mr. Mars.
Up next: Pentatonix. They start by acknowledging the passing of Al Jarreau. They then sing "ABC" (Jackson 5). It's not my favorite thing they've ever done.
James is out in the audience whining about the folding chairs. Then he quits whining and introduces Halsey and Jason Derulo. Jason acknowledges Debra L. Lee, CEO of BET. Halsey then introduces Chance The Rapper.
CtR's performance is part rap and part gospel, with an orchestra and a piano soloist and a drum kit that I can't even hear, and...there's a lot going on here. It's pretty amazing and very overwhelming.
James does a stupid bit where he acts like he is introducing Kanye West but in fact it is Neil Portnow, president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. He talks about the need to be reminded of things that unite us, not divide us. And a trumpet player (a young lady named Miranda) comes onstage and plays the first bar of "America The Beautiful". Neil is getting political and calling on the President and Congress to renew America's commitment to the arts.
John Legend and Cynthia Erivo are singing "God Only Knows" before and after the Roll of the Dead. It starts with just the two of them out there with John playing the piano, and the string players in the dark somewhere.
We lost a lot of folks this year. Leonard Cohen, Prince, Keith Emerson and Greg Lake, John Wetton, Sharon Jones, James Jameson Jr., Ralph Stanley, Merle Haggard, Sonny James, Scotty Moore, Bobby Vee, Lonnie Mack, Butch Trucks, Toots Thielemans, Nat Hentoff, George Michael, Debbie Reynolds, Guy Clark, John D. Loudermilk, Milt Okun, Billy Paul, Chips Moman, Bernie Worrell, Frank Sinatra Jr. Sir Neville Marriner, Muhammad Ali, Leon Russell, Sir George Martin, many people who I don't recognize. RIP, all.
Faith Hill and Tim McGraw are presenting Record of the Year and Album Of The Year. Record: Hello (Adele). Also nominated: Formation (Beyonce), 7 Years (Lukas Graham), Work (Rihanna), Stressed Out (21 Pilots). Greg K comes up there with Adele again, and she lets him talk first because when he was up there before he got cut off by the music. Adele herself is not making a lot of sense, but she does talk about how much she adores Beyonce.
Faith and Tim are still presenting. Album Of The Year: 25 (Adele). Also nominated: Lemonade (Beyonce), Purpose (Justin Bieber), Views (Drake), A Sailor's Guide To Earth (Sturgill Simpson). Adele, who was just up there talking, has to go up and talk again, and she is all weepy. And then she says she can't accept the award, but I think she is actually accepting it, she's just talking about how wonderful Beyonce is instead.
Goodnight, James Corden. Please come back and host the Tony Awards instead, because your whole earnest fanboy shtick works much better for that.
I take it back, I do know (and really like) at least one of the songs, because we open with Adele singing "Hello". Her gown is a long-sleeved thing that looks like stained glass on top, and then the skirt is long and black and sparkly. It's nice.
James Corden is our actual host tonight, and there's this slow-mo thing of him getting tricked out in a pale gray tux jacket and dark pants. He's on a moving platform that's supposed to take him to the top of a staircase, but it stops partway up and he has to climb out of it. And then he takes a fall down the stairs and by now it's clear that this is a bit rather than a mechanical failure. There are dancing girls, and he dances with them for a few steps and then calls a halt and rants about it, which segues into him rapping about how he's not good enough for the Grammys. If you ask me, this goes on way too long. I also think he's kind of a terrible rapper, but it's not like I'd know.
Jennifer Lopez is here. She is wearing something pale pink which is slit way up the side and looks like her head is being swallowed by a giant puff of tulle attached to her halter top. She quotes Toni Morrison. Best New Artist: Chance the Rapper. Also nominated: Kelsea Ballerini, the Chainsmokers, Maren Morris, Anderson Paak. I think Jennifer's in-ear monitor isn't working or something, Chance is wearing a pale gray outfit, not a suit but skinny pants and a short jacket and a tie with a white shirt. He thanks God a lot.
Paris Jackson is wearing...is that even a dress? It looks like a halter top bathing suit with an attached skirt. And some flower things in her hair. She introduces the Weeknd, who is performing with Daft Punk (whom Paris refers to as his "robot friends" :)). There are lots of blue and purple lights here, also synthesizers and smoke machines. It's cool.
John Travolta, why are you here? John here has some shiny things hanging around his neck. He freely admits he can't read the teleprompter because it's too far away. He introduces Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood. Hi Keith, nice to see you, but your Sun-In addiction is out of control.
Keith is wearing all black and looks fine. Carrie is wearing something very short and tight and silvery (I think it's silvery stretch lace, it's hard to tell with all the flashy lights) and looks fantastic.
Nick Jonas is wearing an enormous jacket thing that makes no sense. Best Pop Duo/Group Performance: "Stressed Out", 21 Pilots. Also nominated: Closer (the Chainsmokers and Haley), 7 Years (Lukas Graham), Work (Rihanna and Drake), Cheap Thrills (Sia and Sean Paul). 21 Pilots are two dudes who are probably not pilots. They are wearing suit/tux jackets and, um, no pants. The dude who does the talking explains that back before they were famous, they watched the Grammys together this one time and they looked around the room and realized that they were in a room full of people in their underwear? so they decided that if they ever won a Grammy they would accept the awards in their unmentionables? Whatever, guys. Congrats.
And we're back, and now James is also in his underwear. Thanks, 21 Pilots dudes.
James introduces Ed Sheeran. He performed last night on SNL and this is the same song. I tend to file Ed here under "doesn't suck but I wouldn't go out of my way to listen to his music".
Katherine McPhee and the Chainsmokers are here. The Chainsmokers are two dudes, but they are wearing their pants. Best Rock Song: Blackstar (David Bowie). Also nominated: Burn The Witch (Radiohead), Hardwired (Metallica), Heathens (21 Pilots), My Name Is Human (...some guy or guys). Kat and the dudes with pants accept the award on David Bowie's behalf without a lot of gone-too-soon fanfare.
Ryan Secrest is here. He is apparently the "Grammy Nomination Honorary Chair". He presents the Grammy Music Educators Award to Keith Hancock, a choir director from California.
Kelsea Ballerini and Lukas Forchammer (the lead singer of Danish pop band Lukas Graham) are singing together. I do not know who either of these people are or why I should care. Lukas looks and sounds quite young and has a dark red jacket and a lot of emotions. Kelsea is also quite young, and I think she's singing out of synch with the instrumentalists. This song is failing to hold my interest. It is about making friends as a little kid and probably some other things.
Tina Knowles is here to talk about being blessed to have daughters. She is proud of their accomplishments, their self-confidence, and the way they express love to other people. She introduces Beyonce, and, okay, that's kind of sweet.
I have no hope of being able to say anything useful about Beyonce's performance. Go look it up on YouTube.
Camila Cabello and Thomas Rhett. I do not know who these people are, which suggests that they might be country stars. Camila has a big silver ballgown. Best Country Solo Performance: "My Church", Maren Morris. Also nominated: Love Can Go To Hell (Brandy Clark), Vice (Miranda Lambert), something by Keith Urban, Church Bells (Carrie Underwood). Maren talks about having gone to the first-ever Grammy camp. Her gown is purple, and the top of it looks like it might be stretch lace. Keith, by the way, appears to be very happy for her victory.
There is a stupid bit with James Corden being contractually obligated to wear a cardboard car, a reference to the "Carpool Karaoke" bit from his show which this bit claims is the only part of his show Grammy Awards viewers will be familiar with. James makes lots of artists get into the car with him, including Neil Diamond. They all sing "Sweet Caroline". Keith Urban is in the car and I think maybe he does not know the words except for 'Sweet Caroline'.
Thankfully this bit is over and we get a performance by Bruno Mars, who is always fun to watch. He looks like he's having a good time. Hi Bruno! I have no idea who those guys are who are singing with you, but this is not boring. Bruno and some dudes have wandered out onto a platform in the middle of the audience and they're doing some old-school pop harmony, and in between he is reminding all the ladies present that they look very beautiful in their new dresses.
Little Big Town are performing. I don't know them either. They are two women and two men and, at the moment, one guitar. They are doing a low-tech cover of "Teenage Dream" with lots of vocal harmony, as an introduction to Katy Perry's performance. Katy's hair is a short tousled blonde bob, and she's wearing what appears to be a white pantsuit with a longline black strapless bra under it. I'm not sure if this song is actually about anything. The performance features Skip Marley, who is also wearing a white pantsuit.
James is back, wearing a normal dark tux now (including pants). He does a stupid routine about Twitter and then introduces William Bell and Gary Clark Jr. They are singing "Born Under A Bad Sign" and they are awesome. William Bell apparently won a Grammy award today, but we don't get to see it.
Best Urban Contemporary Album: Lemonade (Beyonce). Also nominated: Ology (Gallant), We Are Kings (Kings), Malibu (Anderson Paak), Anti (Rihanna). I do not think there was much likelihood of anyone other than Beyonce winning this award. She is wearing the outfit from her performance. She is impossibly gorgeous. Her speech is about honoring history and learning from the past.
Gina Rodriguez! Hi Gina! She is so, so cute. She introduces Maren Morris and Alicia Keys. There is...a big chandelier over the stage. And Maren might be oversinging a bit. Alicia! Yay! Their vocal blend is not the best but it's a really strong effort. The song is a huge overblown power ballad, like if Jim Steinman wrote something for Aretha Franklin--it's called "Once" and the repeated line goes "don't forget that you loved me once". I like it.
James is back and is not snarking but is being sincerely very nice about George Michael. Adele is singing a 'new arrangement' of "Fastlove". She is wearing her hair up and a big dramatic black gown with capes and sleeves and things. And...partway through she makes a mistake, swears on camera (twice) and makes the music director begin the song over again, saying that this is too important and she can't mess it up "for him" (George).
Taraji P. Henson is here, wearing something very short and tight that look like it started out as purple satin and got things stuck to it and the shoulder seams tried to run away from the rest of it. Best Rap Album: "Coloring Books", Chance The Rapper. Also nominated: De La Soul, Drake, DJ Khaled, Schoolboy Q, Kanye West. I can't type fast enough to keep up with the album names. Chance says flat out that he didn't expect to win this award so doesn't have a speech prepared. He thanks God some more, and shouts out to some specific people and to independent artists in general.
James says that this is his parents' 45th wedding anniversary and that his parents are here. He goes to where they are, and James' dad has Heidi Klum parked on his lap. James, aghast, goes looking for his mum and finds her snuggling with Nick Jonas, who smirks and drapes his ridiculous enormous jacket over James' mum's shoulders. It's a cute bit.
The next presenter is Laverne Cox, who starts off her speech by telling us to Google Gavin Grimm. :( She then introduces Lady Gaga and Metallica. James Hetfield's mic is completely silenced. Like, 100% no sound. #techfail. Eventually they get it working again. I know intellectually that Metallica have aged along with the rest of us, but in my head they still look like they did when I was 17. Sigh.
Dwight Yoakam?! He is telling us about the award for Best Non-Classical Producer. Then he mentions Sharon Jones as a segue into introducing Sturgill Simpson who is performing with the Dap Kings' horn section. I have never heard of this guy, apparently he is some kind of crossover country-mainstream dude? and the sax player is just shredding. Awesome.
DNCE are here. This is Joe Jonas's band, and all of them except Joe tend to show up looking really weird. This time is no exception. Joe gets to do all he talking, and he doesn't do it very well.
They're introducing a Bee Gees tribute montage, which starts out with Demi Lovato singing "Stayin' Alive". She isn't awful. Keith Urban and Barry Gibb are both singing along in the audience.
Demi is replaced by Tori Kelly, singing a song I don't know. (There are in fact several Bee Gees songs I quite like, but none of them are the popular ones.) Tori sounds great, and, okay, once the chorus kicks in I do recognize this one, it's "Tragedy". Little Big Town come onstage to sing "How Deep Is Your Love", featuring solos by both of the Little Big dudes. One of them sounds good, one of them does not. Little Big Town's little big harmony vocals are actually perfect for this song.
Andra Day is wearing this awesome caftan cape thing. She is attempting to convince us that she has Night Fever and is not hitting a lot of the notes. Then all the other soloists come out onstage to sing "Stayin' Alive" again. Demi, Tori and Andra are having a lot of fun with it. Little Big Town does not quite know how to handle this.
Celine Dion! She's wearing a black gown with what looks like a safety harness over one shoulder. She talks about sitting with her husband Rene (RIP) when "My Heart Will Go On" won Song Of The Year. This year's Song Of The Year: Hello (Adele). Also nominated: Formation (Beyonce), I Took A Pill In Ibiza (Mike Posner), Love Yourself (Justin Bieber), 7 Years (Lukas Graham). Adele is now wearing this very interesting green gown with a crossover bodice thing. She apologizes again for swearing during the George Michael tribute. Onstage with her is Greg Kurstin (sp?) who won the Best Non-Classical Producer award for producing her album.
Anderson Paak and A Tribe Called Quest are performing with some other people whose name I did not catch. Taraji is rocking out in the audience.
Awwww. James is fanboying about getting to introduce The Time, who are in charge of the Prince tribute. <3 <3
We see the entire audience on their feet rocking out. Many of these people cannot dance. No one cares.
ohhhh, the opening monologue of "Let's Go Crazy". And here to perform the non-monologue part of the song is Bruno Mars in the sparkly purple jacket and poofy white shirt. Also a lot of extra eyeliner. Bless you, Mr. Mars.
Up next: Pentatonix. They start by acknowledging the passing of Al Jarreau. They then sing "ABC" (Jackson 5). It's not my favorite thing they've ever done.
James is out in the audience whining about the folding chairs. Then he quits whining and introduces Halsey and Jason Derulo. Jason acknowledges Debra L. Lee, CEO of BET. Halsey then introduces Chance The Rapper.
CtR's performance is part rap and part gospel, with an orchestra and a piano soloist and a drum kit that I can't even hear, and...there's a lot going on here. It's pretty amazing and very overwhelming.
James does a stupid bit where he acts like he is introducing Kanye West but in fact it is Neil Portnow, president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. He talks about the need to be reminded of things that unite us, not divide us. And a trumpet player (a young lady named Miranda) comes onstage and plays the first bar of "America The Beautiful". Neil is getting political and calling on the President and Congress to renew America's commitment to the arts.
John Legend and Cynthia Erivo are singing "God Only Knows" before and after the Roll of the Dead. It starts with just the two of them out there with John playing the piano, and the string players in the dark somewhere.
We lost a lot of folks this year. Leonard Cohen, Prince, Keith Emerson and Greg Lake, John Wetton, Sharon Jones, James Jameson Jr., Ralph Stanley, Merle Haggard, Sonny James, Scotty Moore, Bobby Vee, Lonnie Mack, Butch Trucks, Toots Thielemans, Nat Hentoff, George Michael, Debbie Reynolds, Guy Clark, John D. Loudermilk, Milt Okun, Billy Paul, Chips Moman, Bernie Worrell, Frank Sinatra Jr. Sir Neville Marriner, Muhammad Ali, Leon Russell, Sir George Martin, many people who I don't recognize. RIP, all.
Faith Hill and Tim McGraw are presenting Record of the Year and Album Of The Year. Record: Hello (Adele). Also nominated: Formation (Beyonce), 7 Years (Lukas Graham), Work (Rihanna), Stressed Out (21 Pilots). Greg K comes up there with Adele again, and she lets him talk first because when he was up there before he got cut off by the music. Adele herself is not making a lot of sense, but she does talk about how much she adores Beyonce.
Faith and Tim are still presenting. Album Of The Year: 25 (Adele). Also nominated: Lemonade (Beyonce), Purpose (Justin Bieber), Views (Drake), A Sailor's Guide To Earth (Sturgill Simpson). Adele, who was just up there talking, has to go up and talk again, and she is all weepy. And then she says she can't accept the award, but I think she is actually accepting it, she's just talking about how wonderful Beyonce is instead.
Goodnight, James Corden. Please come back and host the Tony Awards instead, because your whole earnest fanboy shtick works much better for that.