Adele takes home top prizes at the 2017 Grammy Awards

— -- Adele opened the 59th annual Grammy Awards by delighting the audience with a perfect rendition of her hit song, "Hello."

But the British singer -- who went home the big winner Sunday night with five awards, including album of the year -- had to restart her tribute to George Michael later in the show.

"Can we please start it again? I'm sorry, I can't mess this up for him," she said after getting tripped up after just a few lines of Michael's 1996 song, "Fastlove."

After her second performance of the night, Adele was visibly in tears, mouthing "thanks" to a sympathetic audience.

And when it came to accepting the Grammy for album of the year, Adele said Beyonce deserved the honor for her visual album, "Lemonade."

"The 'Lemonade' album was just so monumental and so well thought out and so beautiful and soul-barring," Adele explained to the audience during her acceptance speech, "and we appreciate that."

A tribute to Prince went off without a hitch. The Purple One was honored by The Time, a Minneapolis band he helped create. Bruno Mars, wearing a Prince-inspired purple suit, later performed "Let's Go Crazy," as he showcased his impeccable guitar skills.

Although Beyonce lost in most of her nominated categories to Adele, the pregnant singer's performance lit up social media. She took the stage performing "Love Drought" and "Sandcastles" in a golden ensemble featuring a halo.

Bey did, however, take home a trophy for best urban contemporary album for "Lemonade." During her acceptance speech she told the audience "it's vital that we learn from the past and recognize our tendencies so we won't repeat our own mistakes."

Other artists to light up the stage included Lady Gaga, The Weeknd, Ed Sheeran and Keith Urban with Carrie Underwood, who performed their 2016 duet, "The Fighter." Lukas Graham and Kelsea Ballerini performed a mash-up of their hit singles, "7 Years," and "Peter Pan."

In a memorable moment, Demi Lovato, Tori Kelly, country music group Little Big Town and Andra Day paid tribute to the Bee Gees. The artists performed the group's songs from the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary.

Another tribute honored A Tribe Called Quest's Phife Dawg, who passed away last March. Joining the rap group onstage was Grammy Award-nominated artist Anderson Paak, Consequence, and Busta Rhymes.

The politically-driven performance made reference to President Donald Trump's travel ban, which temporarily restricts immigration from seven predominantly Muslim countries.

John Legend also sang during the awards program as the Grammys remembered late musicians such as Leonard Cohen, Sharon Jones, Merle Haggard, Joey Feek, Debbie Reynolds, Guy Clark, Billy Paul, Frank Sinatra Jr., Leon Russell, and George Martin.

A hilarious moment came when Twenty One Pilots took off their pants to accept the award for best pop duo/group performance for their song, "Stressed Out." The duo explained that previously when they were watching the Grammys at home, drummer Josh Dun noticed that they were all in their underwear.

The band said then that "if we ever win a Grammy, we should receive it just like this."

Chance the Rapper won a coveted award -- best new artist. He also used the opportunity to clarify what it meant to be an artist not connected to a record label. The Chicago rapper, who won a total of three Grammys Sunday night, put out his debut album, "Coloring Book," exclusively on Apple Music before it was released on other streaming services. "Independent doesn't mean you do it by yourself, but independence means freedom," he said.

He later performed a medley of his distinctive gospel-infused hip-hop hits.