(CNN) -- "Hello"Adele.
The British chanteuse opened Sunday's 59th Annual Grammy Awards singing her hit single.
The song, which was released in October 2015, was one of the juggernauts of 2016 and helped set the stage for a major storyline for the Grammys: who will rule the night, Adele or Beyoncé?
Host James Corden followed Adele's performance with a bit that included a pratfall, and Corden pretending to lose his cool.
He then launched into a rap in the style of the hit Broadway musical "Hamilton."
"Live it or love it cause this is the best," he rapped. "With President Trump we don't know what comes next."
The first award of the night went to Chance the Rapper for best new artist.
"Glory be to God," the Chicago native said before going on to thanking his family and his hometown.
Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun of Twenty One Pilots removed their pants after they won the Grammy for best pop duo/group performance for "Stressed Out."
Joseph explained that as aspiring musicians years ago in Ohio, they had watched the awards show at his house in their underwear. They told each other that if they ever won a Grammy, they would receive it in their undies.
"Not only is this amazing, but I want everyone who's watching at home to know that you could be next," Joseph said.
A very pregnant Beyoncé was introduced by her mother, Tina Knowles, who noted that both her daughters were Grammy winners. (Solange Knowles won her first Grammy on Sunday for best R & B performance with "Cranes in the Sky.")
Dressed as a goddess, Beyoncé spoke the words of poet Warsan Shire, just as she did in "Lemonade."
Instead of her usual energetic dance moves, the singer incorporated chairs into her performance of "Love Drought" and "Sandcastles."
With nine nominations, the superstar has the most nominations of any artist this year, followed by Kanye, Drake and Rihanna, who each have eight.
Beyoncé has scored 62 Grammy nominations over the course of her career -- more than any other female recording artist. If she sweeps her categories tonight, she'll set a new record for wins.
Adele performed a slowed arrangement of George Michael's "Fast Love" in tribute to the singer who died on Christmas Day.
She uttered some expletives and stopped a few verses in when she felt she wasn't doing it justice.
"I'm sorry, I can't mess this up for him," Adele said before starting the song over.
The singer was visibly emotionally when she finished the song as the audience gave her a standing ovation.
Grammy producers took advantage of Corden as host and did a version of his "Carpool Caraoke," which featured a cardboard cutout of a car and Jennifer Lopez, Keith Urban, Jason Derulo, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, John Legend, Ryan Tedder and Neil Diamond singing "Sweet Caroline."
The audience joined in as Beyoncé's daughter, Blue Ivy, ran over to also join in the fun.
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