British soul diva Adele made a triumphant return to the stage at the Grammys, winning a clean sweep of six awards and a standing ovation, in a show clouded by the death of Whitney Houston.
The 23-year-old Londoner, who has been out of action since October to undergo throat surgery, wowed a star-studded audience with a storming rendition of her worldwide hit Rolling in the Deep.
The tune won best song Grammy, to add to Adele’s haul of awards for best record, best album for her breakthrough 21, best short video, best pop album and best pop artist – wins in all six categories in which she was nominated.
“This record is inspired by something that is really normal... just a rubbish relationship,” said Adele, adding: “It’s been the most life-changing year”.
The other hotly-anticipated comeback of the night was by iconic 1960s California surfer band the Beach Boys, who played together live on stage for the first time in over two decades.
A three-song tribute started with a close-harmony version of Surfer Girl by Maroon 5, and then the falsetto strains of Wouldn’t It Be Nice by Foster the People, against a backdrop of multicolour surf boards.
After a standing ovation, the Beach Boys themselves, all now in their 60s, then took to the stage to play Good Vibrations, with famously glum-looking Brian Wilson almost smiling as he hit the high notes with his old bandmates.
After Adele – who equalled Beyonce’s record of six Grammys for a female artist – the Foo Fighters were the next biggest winners, taking five Grammys including best rock song for Walk and best rock album for Wasting Light.
Kanye West, who started the evening with the most nominations – seven, one ahead of Adele – went home with four including best rap song for All of the Lights and best rap album for My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.
But while Adele was the big winner, the show was punctuated with tributes to Ms Houston, the 1980s and 1990s superstar who died on Saturday at age 48 at the Beverly Hilton hotel on the eve of the US music industry’s big awards night.
The Grammy show began with a prayer for the pop legend from host LL Cool J. “There is no way around this. We’ve had a death in our family”, he said, adding: “The only thing that feels right is to begin with a prayer for a woman who we loved, for our fallen sister”.
The audience, with stars including Sir Paul in the front row, then watched a clip of the pop-soul artist singing one of her greatest hits, I Will Always Love You, and gave her a standing ovation. Later in the show, singer Jennifer Hudson – who was presented with a Grammy by Ms Houston in 2009 – gripped the audience in silence with a classy rendition of I Will Always Love You, the smash hit from the film The Bodyguard.
Ms Houston’s family issued a statement before the show, saying: “We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Whitney. This is an unimaginable tragedy and we will miss her terribly.”