Adele stopped her tribute to George Michael and cursed, before starting again, during the 59th annual Grammy awards on Sunday night.
The singer apologized on stage for her second botched Grammys performance, saying that she had to restart the slowed-down arrangement of Fastlove after failing to nail the sound.
“I’m sorry for swearing and I’m sorry for starting again,” Adele said. “I can’t mess this up for him. I’m sorry, I can’t.”
At last year’s ceremony, Adele struggled through a performance of All I Ask, which was plagued by technical difficulties including her microphone cutting out and an extra guitar seeming to be played over her song. She tweeted after that performance: “The piano mics fell on to the piano strings, that’s what the guitar sound was. It made it sound out of tune. Shit happens.”
Standing in a dramatic black gown, as images of Michael played in the background, Adele went on to complete a ballad version of the dance tune.
In spite of the slip-up, she received a standing ovation from the crowd.
But Adele was not the only performer to encounter musical issues. Shortly after her performance, Metallica encountered a technical failure during Moth Into Flame. Lead singer James Hetfield’s microphone failed, leading him to share the microphone with Lady Gaga, who performed with the metal band.
Adele, a noted George Michael fan who dressed up as the singer for her 27th birthday, was teary as the audience clapped. Michael died at his home, aged 53, in December 2016.
It was her second performance of the night, after opening the show with a staid delivery of Hello. She has picked up awards for best pop vocal album and best pop solo performance.
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