Biggest mishaps of the 2017 Grammy Awards

The live broadcast wasn't without several cringeworthy moments.

ByABC News
February 13, 2017, 12:57 PM

— -- Host James Corden opened the Grammys with a dig at the technical mishaps of recent award shows, but it could easily have been a preview of what was to come.

Sunday's live broadcast was filled with several memorable mishaps and mistakes, from Adele’s restarting her tribute to George Michael, to Metallica frontman James Hetfield's mic failure.

Despite such gaffes, however, the stars carried on, following the age-old adage that the show must go on.

Here were the night's biggest missteps:

Adele restarts George Michael tribute

The British diva opened the show with a flawless performance of her Grammy-winning song "Hello," and she returned to perform George Michael's 1996 song "Fastlove" in tribute to the pop star, who died Christmas Day. Not long into the song, in which her pitch sounded off, she stopped and asked the show's producer if she could restart.

"I know it's live TV," she said, followed by an expletive that was bleeped out. "I can't do it again like last year. I'm sorry for swearing, and I'm sorry for starting again. Can we please start it again? I'm sorry, I can't mess this up for him."

By the end of the performance, she had audience members on their feet and many of them in tears. She wiped away tears at the end, later telling reporters backstage that she was "devastated" that the performance didn't go the way it did in rehearsals and that she had been planning a tribute to Michael since the day after he died.

Adele, 28, suffered an audio glitch last year during her Grammy performance of "All I Ask," throwing off her performance. She later explained that a microphone had fallen onto the piano strings.

Metallica singer's microphone doesn't work

One of the most anticipated pairings of the night was Lady Gaga with the legendary heavy metal band Metallica, but there were audio issues from the start. Frontman James Hetfield's microphone was not working. Although he was clearly singing the group's 2016 song "Moth Into Flame," audience members and viewers at home couldn't hear him.

After several verses, Hetfield moved over to Gaga's mic, which was working, until his mic could be fixed. The rest of the performance went off without a hitch and ended with crowd-surfing by Gaga. But Hetfield was obviously not pleased, as he kicked down his mic stand when it was over.

Laverne Cox forgets to mention Metallica

The mic mishap came after Laverne Cox introduced the performance and failed to mention Metallica.

"We all begin somewhere. Great bands usually begin in someone's garage or basement or some empty warehouse," the "Orange Is the New Black" and "Doubt" star said. "And if they're really good, part of them always stays there. Ladies and gentlemen and all my gender-nonbinary peeps watching tonight, eight-time Grammy Award winners and six-time Grammy Award winner Lady Gaga."

Realizing her gaffe, Cox later tweeted and apology:

Adele's 'Hello' co-writer cut off

After co-writers Adele and Greg Kurstin won song of the year for "Hello," she first apologized for swearing during her tribute to Michael. "George Michael, I love him. It means a lot to me. I'm sorry if I really offended anyone anywhere," she said, before going on to thank members of her team and Kurstin.

She then motioned for to him to speak, but producers cut him off and began playing "Cranes in the Sky" by Solange Knowles, who was up next to introduce A Tribe Called Quest.

The move drew boos from the audience. Fortunately, Adele made up for the show's gaffe by letting Kurstin have the mic first when they won the next award, record of the year, also for "Hello."

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