Adele may have been transported back to 2017 last night. The Grammy Awards on February 5 were a rematch between the Brit diva and Beyoncé, five years after Adele’s 25 beat Beyoncé’s Lemonade for Album of the Year, much to Adele’s chagrin. “I’m very humbled, and I’m very grateful and gracious,” Adele said in her speech at the time. “But my artist of my life is Beyoncé, and this album for me, the Lemonade album, was just so monumental.” This year, Adele’s 30 didn’t triumph in that category, but … neither did Beyoncé’s Renaissance. Instead, that honor went to one Mr. Harry Styles, who beat out eight other nominees, for his album Harry’s House. Adele’s reaction was immediately turned into meme fodder. Whether it was her confused face (side by side Lizzo’s equally intense frown) from earlier in the night being appropriated for the Beyhive agenda, or a clip of her appearing to leave the show during his speech, Beyhive Queen Mother Adele became an avatar for the disappointment of Beyoncé fans across the world. That’s not to say she doesn’t support Styles. Their albums share an engineer, and the two have literally vacationed together (with James Corden). We may never know what this Londoner was truly thinking — was it relief at not having to apologize to Bey again? Disappointment with the Recording Academy? Maybe she was secretly hoping for an ABBA sweep? Graham Norton will finagle it out of her one day.
