It may all be water under the bridge now, but for Adele, her shaky Grammy performance affected her long after the final note.
During Sunday night's Grammy Awards, the British songstress added five more statues to her collection of honors—including "Album of the Year" and "Song of the Year"—but the evening wasn't entirely seamless. After taking the stage to open the show with "Hello," she was slated to perform again in honor of the late George Michael, who was confirmed dead Christmas Day in 2016. However, a few lines into her slow rendition of his hit, "Fastlove," Adele abruptly stopped.
"I can't do it again like last year. I'm sorry for swearing and I'm sorry for starting again," she said at the microphone, referencing the technical difficulties that plagued her Grammy performance of "All I Ask" in 2016.
"Can we please start it again? I'm sorry, I can't mess this up for him. I'm sorry. I can't. I'm sorry for swearing. I'm really sorry."
While she successfully performed the entire song from start to finish on the second try with the support of the audience and producers, the minor flub shook the star.
"I was devastated by that, and my rehearsal—I did have a shaky rehearsal today," she told reporters backstage at the press room. "But I have been working very hard on this tribute for him, every day."
The devoted fan told the room of journalists that Michael, for her, was "one of the truest icons." She echoed the sentiment earlier in the night when she accepted the Grammy for "Song of the Year" for "Hello."
"I really do apologize for swearing," she told the audience. "George Michael, I love him. He means a lot to me, so I'm really sorry if I offended anyone anywhere."