8 of The Most Surprising Grammys Wins That Got the Internet Buzzing
Though Adele is a national treasure, fans — and Adele herself — were shocked when the Brit's 25 was awarded the night's highest honor, album of the year, over Beyoncé's Lemonade at the 2017 ceremony. "I can't possibly accept this award, and I'm very humbled and very grateful and gracious but my artist of my life is Beyoncé, and this album for me, the Lemonade album is just so monumental," a teary-eyed Adele said during her acceptance speech. "Beyoncé, it was so monumental and so well thought-out and so beautiful and soul-baring, and we all got to see a side of you that you don't always let us see and we appreciate that, and all us artists here adore you. You are our light! And the way that you make me and my friends feel, the way you make my black friends feel, is empowering and you make them stand up for themselves and I love you, I always have and I always will."
Beck's win gave us serious déjà vu! After coming on stage to accept his album of the year Grammy for Morning Phase in 2015, Kanye West was seen walking up to take the mic from his fellow artist, who beat out Beyoncé's self-titled album, Ed Sheeran's X, Sam Smith's In the Lonely Hour and Pharrell Williams's Girl. But he didn't, and walked off, prompting the audience — including Bey and JAY-Z — to erupt in laughter. The moment was reminiscent of West interrupting Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards when the country singer won over Beyoncé.
Bon Iver swept the 2012 Grammys with best new artist and best alternative music album wins — much to the confusion of social media users who asked the question, "Who is Bonnie Bear?" As for Bon Iver frontman Justin Vernon, the best new artist win made him feel slightly awkward. "It's really hard to accept this award," Vernon, who beat out Frank Ocean, The Lumineers, Hunter Hayes, Fun and Alabama Shakes, said during his acceptance speech. "There's so much talent out here ... and there's a lot of talent that's not here tonight. It's also hard to accept because you know, when I started to make songs I did it for the inherent reward of making songs, so I'm a little bit uncomfortable up here."
The best new artist category at the 2011's Grammy Awards was a star-studded one to say the least — nominees included heavyweights like Justin Bieber, Drake, Florence + The Machine and Mumford & Sons. However, the honor went to Spalding, who became the first-ever jazz artist to win best new artist at the ceremony. "I really wasn't expecting that at all," Spalding, who was subjected to hateful tweets from upset Bieber fans, said backstage at the Grammys. "So I was surprised. I looked at my brother and said, 'Like, really?' and he said, 'Yes, go!' "
In 2008, Hancock took home the Grammy for best new album for his ode to Joni Mitchell, River: The Joni Letters — to the surprise of fans who expected either Amy Winehouse's Back to Black or Kanye West's Graduation to win.
In 1993, Clapton's "Layla" beat out Nirvana's iconic "Smells Like Teen Spirit" in the best rock song category at the Grammys. Although the grunge band didn't take home any gramophones that night, they did end up winning best alternative music album for their MTV Unplugged in New York album in 1996.
To the surprise of many who were betting on Metallica's …And Justice for All to win the 1989 Grammy for best hard rock/metal performance, vocal or instrumental (the category's inaugural year), Jethro Tull's Crest of a Knave took the top spot. "We were nominated in that year strangely, in what was a new category," Jethro Tull frontman Ian Anderson told EonMusic in 2017, recalling the upset. "And whilst we knew that we could not be classed as 'hard rock,' let alone 'metal,' it was a nomination that just seemed to sneak under the radar. The record company said they didn’t think it was really worth the expense of flying us over to Los Angeles because Metallica were favorites to win it, which suited me fine because we were working in the studio at that time."
Grammys 2018: Surprising Grammys Wins That Got the Internet Buzzing
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