Grammys 2012: Adele will return to the stage to perform
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Sidelined since early October to deal with vocal cord trauma, British singer Adele will return to performing shape at the Feb. 12 Grammy Awards.
Whether the artist would be cleared to sing after undergoing November surgery had remained one of the biggest questions heading into the ceremony, to be held at Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles. Yet the Recording Academy put speculation that Adele would sing on the telecast to bed Tuesday morning, announcing that the singer would perform for the first time in nearly five months on the Grammy stage.
‘It’s an absolute honor to be included in such a night, and for it to be my first performance in months is very exciting and of course nerve-racking, but what a way to get back into it all,’ Adele said in a statement.
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Whether or not Adele was cleared to sing, the style-over-substance singer was the heavy favorite heading into the awards. Her ‘21’ was the top-selling album of 2011, with a final tally of 5.82 million copies moved during the year. Meanwhile, her nominated single ‘Rolling in the Deep,’ which will likely be the song Adele performs on the telecast, was the year’s bestselling cut with 5.81 million copies. Both numbers are taken from Nielsen SoundScan’s year-end data.
While rapper Kanye West led the Grammy field with seven nominations, it could be argued that Adele stole the spotlight from the outspoken West. West’s nods came predominantly in rap categories while Adele’s six nominations include the most prestigious categories: record, album and song of the year, giving her a chance to sweep the top Grammy categories.
Adele’s 2011 success signaled that songcraft, raw emotion and a dazzling voice can still triumph over artifice. Her ‘21’ is still the No. 1 album in the U.S. and has now sold more than 6 million copies. Adele was named best new artist at the 2009 Grammy ceremony. Before those awards, Adele told The Times she hoped to have future opportunities to win a Grammy.
“A Grammy is like an Oscar,” Adele said in 2009. “You win an Oscar when you give the performance of your life. I hope this isn’t the performance of my life.”
The Grammys are determined by about 13,000 voting members. The eligibility period for nominated recordings was Oct. 1, 2010 to Sept. 30, 2011. The 2011 awards will be televised on CBS-TV from Staples Center in Los Angeles, and will be broadcast live except for viewers on the West Coast.
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-- Todd Martens
