When you are Adele, live TV waits for you.
A year after her microphone cut out during her performance at the 2016 Grammy Awards, Adele began a tribute to the late George Michael Sunday night by singing a balladized version "Fastlove" out of key.
So — as she'd promised after last year's mixup — Adele stopped the song (with an unreprintable expletive) and started over.
"I can't do it again like last year," Adele, in tears, said to a standing ovation. "I can't mess this up for him. I'm sorry. I can't."
The second version went off flawlessly, earning Adele a second standing ovation from the audience full of fellow performers — many of whom have likely wished at one time or another during their careers that could have done the same thing.
Adele has said that Michael, who died on Christmas Day, was her idol. In 2015, she even dressed up as Michael at the height of his 1980s fame on her 27th birthday.
A few minutes later, she took the stage again to accept the award for Song of the Year for "Hello."
"George Michael, I love him. He really means a lot to me," she said.
Music experts and fellow performers from across the musical spectrum — from Bette Midler to Skrillex — hailed Adele afterward for insisting on getting it right:
