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'This is totally insane' – Flume snares Grammy

Music

Electronic music wunderkind Flume has snared a Grammy, placing him on an esteemed list of past Australian winners of music’s top prize including the Bee Gees, Olivia Newton-John, AC/DC and Dame Joan Sutherland.

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As fellow Australian Grammy veterans Keith Urban and Sia missed out in three categories each at the 59th Grammy Awards in Los Angeles yesterday, the 25-year-old – whose real name is Harley Streten – cemented his place in history.

British songstress Adele dominated the ceremony, with her haul of Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Pop Solo Performance and Best Pop Vocal Album.

“Wow,” a wide-eyed Flume said after making a long walk up to the Grammy stage.

“This is totally insane.”

The musician, DJ and producer, who was bitten by the electronic music bug as an 11-year-old while growing up on Sydney’s northern beaches, won the Best Dance/Electronic Album Grammy for his second studio album, Skin.

He is no stranger to winning awards in Australia, with multiple wins at ARIA ceremonies dating back to 2013, but at the music world’s biggest night he was floored to win a category featuring titans of his genre, Jean-Michel Jarre, Tycho, Underworld and Louie Vega.

“I’m really proud to be here representing Australia and Australian music at the Grammys on this stage right now,” Flume said.

Australia had a large contingent of nominees across numerous genres, headed by Urban (Country Album, Country Song and Country Solo Performance) and Sia (Pop Vocal Album, Pop Duo/Group Performance and Song for Visual Media) but one-by-one they were passed over.

Australian brothers Joel and Luke Smallbone and their band For King & Country (Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song) and Hillsong Young & Free (Contemporary Christian Album) missed out.

Brisbane-born big band leader Tim Davies also lost out (Instrumental Composition).

Beyonce, pregnant with twins, was set to dominate the Grammys with nine nominations, more than any other artist, but Adele could not be stopped.

At the end of the ceremony as a teary Adele stood on the Staples Centre stage with the top award of the night, Album of the Year, she shocked the crowd when she said she “can’t possibly accept this award”.

Adele said Beyonce’s Lemonade deserved it.

“My artist of my life is Beyonce and this album, Lemonade, was so monumental, well thought out, beautiful and we all got to see a side of you that we all don’t get to see,” Adele, looking down to an also teary Beyonce in the front row, said.

“The way you make me and my friends feel and my black friends feel is empowering.”

Beyonce’s nine-minute medley of her songs “Love Drought” and “Sandcastles” did live up to its billing as one of the most ambitious performances in Grammy history.

It involved the high-tech blend of live shots of Beyonce and other footage of the singer, who is pregnant with twins.

Other mash-up performances struck trouble, with Metallica frontman James Hetfield suffering microphone issues during his band’s performance of Moth Into Flame with Lady Gaga.

A tribute by Demi Lovato, Tori Kelly and Little Big Town to Australia’s Bee Gees, marking 40 years since their hit Stayin Alive, was a little rough.

When Twenty One Pilots duo Josh Dun and Tyler Joseph trumped Sia for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance, they decided to take off their pants and accepted their awards on stage in their underpants.

They explained before they were successful they would watch the Grammys on TV wearing their underpants and had made a vow “if we ever go to the Grammys, if we ever win a Grammy, we should receive it just like this”.

-AAP

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