“We all experience pain and loss and often we become inaudible...My intention for the film and album was to create a body of work that will give a voice to our pain, our struggles, our darkness and our history, to confront issues that make us uncomfortable.”  

Beyoncé may have bagged only two awards of the nine she was nominated for – more than any other artist – but both her performance and her moving speech stole the show.

The pop diva, pregnant with twins, who has been a black feminist icon did not need to mention the US President as she spoke up “for every child of every race”, making it very clear what she was talking about as she gracefully accepted the Grammy for best urban contemporary album for Lemonade. Here is her speech.

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“It’s important to me to show images to my children that reflect their beauty, so they can grow up in a world where they look in the mirror, first through their own families – as well as the news, the Super Bowl, the Olympics, the White House and the Grammys — and see themselves, and have no doubt that they’re beautiful, intelligent and capable.”

This speech came after Beyoncé had already brought the house down with her stunning rendition of Lemonade songs, Sandcastles and Love Drought.

Asking, “Do you remember being born,” Beyoncé began a performance that featured on stage her mother Tina Knowles, psychedelic holograms, anti-gravity chair movements, and women and children with radiant halos.

“If we’re gonna heal, let it be glorious,” she concluded.

Such was the awe in the audience that Adele, her competitor and winner of the Album of the Year, couldn’t help but dedicate the final of her five awards to Beyoncé.

“The way that you make me and my friends feel, the way you make my black friends feel, is empowering,” said the English singer while accepting the Album of the Year award in the video below.

The English pop singer who already has ten Grammy awards under her belt won in all the five categories she was nominated for – Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album, and Best Pop Solo Performance.

In one acceptance speech Adele looked at Beyoncé and said, “I adore you and I want you to be my mommy.”

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At the other end of the scale, pop duo Twenty One Pilots went up on stage in style to receive their award – after shedding their pants. Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun had their reasons, of course.

The unique dress code came from a vow made when the singers “were no one at the time” and used to watch the Grammys in their underwear.

Dun had said to Joseph, “If we ever go to the Grammys, if we ever win a Grammy, we should receive it just like this.” The confession created a riot of laughter in the audience while they accepted their first Grammy, for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, for their hit song Stressed Out.

A long time supporter of Hillary Clinton, pop singer Katy Perry let her costume and lyrics do the political speaking. “So comfortable, we’re living in a bubble/ So comfortable, we cannot see the trouble,” sang the singer, dressed in a “Persist” armband and a Clinton-inspired white pantsuit, as she played Chained to the Rhythm.

The rapper Busta Rhymes was far less subtle about Donald Trump, whom he called “President Agent Orange” as he snarled a fiery introduction to We the People by A Tribe Called Quest.

Tribe founder Q-Tip voiced the call of the day: “Resist! Resist!”

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“I’m not feeling the political climate right now. I just want to thank President Agent Orange for perpetuating all of the evil that you’ve been perpetuating throughout the United States. I want to thank President Agent Orange for your unsuccessful attempt of the Muslim ban.”