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The 8 best performances at the Grammy Awards 2017

From Beyonce to Anderson .Paak and A Tribe Called Quest

Roisin O'Connor
Monday 13 February 2017 06:00 GMT
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A Tribe Called Quest perform with Busta Rhymes and Consequence at the 2017 Grammy Awards
A Tribe Called Quest perform with Busta Rhymes and Consequence at the 2017 Grammy Awards (Getty)

The 59th Grammy Awards are over and not without controversy.

Many will feel Beyonce losing out on both Record of the Year and Album of the Year were the biggest snubs of the night - and we doubt everyone will have warmed to James Corden's role as host.

Putting that aside for the moment however, here are the best performances of the night:

Beyonce

Beyonce performs at the 2017 Grammy Awards (Getty)

Introduced by her mother Tina Knowles, Beyonce took to the stage for a sublime performance of her Lemonade tracks 'Love Drought' and 'Sandcastles'.

Read our full report of her appearance here.

Adele - 'Hello' and George Michael tribute 'Fastlove'

Despite needing to restart on an emotional performance of 'Fastlove', Adele pulled off two beautiful performances on Grammys night.

Her rendition of 'Hello' served as the perfect revenge after a disastrous performance at the same awards ceremony in 2016.

Meanwhile 'Fastlove' was performed to a backdrop of images and footage of the late, legendary artist George Michael.

Stumbling over the performance led to Adele's call to restart the song, and while she was visibly upset by the error her second attempt drew a standing ovation from an appreciative audience.

Daft Punk and The Weeknd

The Weeknd and Daft Punk performed 'Starboy' and 'I Feel It Coming'.

Lady Gaga and Metallica

Lady Gaga performed a flame-filled performance with Metallica at the Grammys.

James Hetfield had obvious problems with his mic and was forced to move over and share Gaga's in the first moments of the performance before the issue was fixed but the group still rocked as hard as they possibly could.

Singing 'Moth Into Flame' with the legendary heavy metal band, Gaga sported a Metallica shirt while her new 'tattoo' was visible on the back. She tossed herself into the audience for some crowd-surfing before arriving back onstage for a rousing, epic finish.

Anderson .Paak and A Tribe Called Quest - 'We the People'

This was a blistering performance from ATCQ and .Paak, featuring a riff on the former's 'Movin Backwards' and some silky smooth vocal work from .Paak from his drum kit ahead of the incendiary "We The People", which brought on Busta Rhymes and Consequence in a protest of US President Donald Trump.

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"I wanna thank President Agent Orange... for bringing us together... we the people, we the people," ATCQ shouted. Expect a comment from Trump calling them "underrated" any moment now.

Closing the performance to shouts of "Resist!" this was the most politically-charged performance of the night.

Prince tribute - The Time and Bruno Mars

The Time put on an incredible show as a tribute to the late artist Prince - a funk-infused, foot-stomping jam that saw everyone on their feet where the artists called for the audience to "keep the party going".

They were swiftly followed by Bruno Mars and a lit-up emblem of his 'Love Symbol'.

Dressed as the late artist in a glittering purple suit and Prince hairstyle, Mars rocked out with Prince's 'Let's Go Crazy' (including some insane guitar shredding) - and the audience obligingly went absolutely wild.

Chance the Rapper

Chance the Rapper celebrates his award for Best Rap Album at the Grammys 2017 (Getty)

Backed by a gospel choir and full band, Chance put on this emotional performance after winning awards for Best New Artist and Best Rap Album.

John Legend - Tribute to late artists

Performing a husky, stripped-down version of The Beach Boys' 'God Only Knows', John Legend and Cynthia ErVo introduced the tributes to the artists we lost since the last Grammy Awards in 2016.

Arists including Prince, George Michael, Bobby Vee, Lonnie Mack, Debbie Reynolds, Guy Clark, Frank Sinatra Jr, Phife Dawg, Mohammed Ali and Sir George Martin were remembered in the emotional segment of the awards.

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