Adele Admits to Her Own Pitchiness After 2016 Grammys Mic Mishap: "It's Emotion!"

The Grammy winner reflects on her award show performance with Ellen DeGeneres

By Samantha Schnurr Feb 18, 2016 1:13 PMTags
Adele, 2016 Grammy Awards Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP

Even a ten time Grammy winner like Adele is capable of a musical blunder—and she'll happily admit it.

The "Hello" singer's appearance on the Grammy stage Monday marked her official return to the American awards cycle. Though a highly anticipated reunion, her rendition of "All I Ask" off her third studio album, 25, left viewers asking a lot more questions. What was that strange guitar noise? Was there something wrong with the mic? Why did Adele sound off?

After elaborating on the mishap later in the evening on her Twitter—"the piano mics fell on to the piano strings, that's what the guitar sound was"—the mom of 3-year-old Angelo joined Ellen DeGeneres to reflect on the imperfect performance. 

"I heard it straight away and I wanted to turn," she told the daytime talk show host. "I knew what it was because in rehearsal on Saturday they were like, 'We're going to double mic the piano just in case one doesn't work' and I knew where the mic was and I wanted to turn around and lift it up, but I froze."

CBS

After quelling the faux pas with a burger and a beer later that night, the songstress admitted she really isn't all that miffed about the mistake. After all, she got a bit swept up in the moment, too. 

"I actually felt like it went well," she said. "I'm always a bit pitchy anyways...It's emotion. It's emotion. When I'm flat and I'm sharp I'm just emotional, but it was fine."

She certainly experienced an array of emotion after the Grammys, including embarrassment and even some tears. 

"I cried pretty much all day yesterday," she admitted. "In fairness I would have cried if it went really well as well. If it was a stand out performance I would have cried as well. I always cry." Now she knows how the rest of us feel after listening to one of her songs!

While Adele isn't fuming over the outcome, she has learned a hearty lesson for next time. 

"If it wasn't live TV I would have busted a joke, but because it was TV, I couldn't make it my own. I couldn't make the disaster my own," she told DeGeneres. "Next time I will. Next time I have any sound issues, I am gonna stop. I'll be like sorry that's not working for me. If we have time to do it again, let's do it, otherwise, bye!"

The silver lining? She thinks she's prepared for just about anything now. 

"I don't feel like it could go that much worse than the Grammy's though, so I feel like I'm alright now," she said. "Anything that happens, dust it off!"