Photo Credit: CBS
Adele’s ‘One Night Only’ special on CBS was more popular than the 2021 Grammy Awards among TV viewers.
Adele’s special has surpassed 10.33 million viewers, making it the most-watched special since the Oscars. Only 8.8 million people tuned in to watch the Grammys this year, meaning Adele handily beat the awards ceremony for the entire music industry.
The concert special was taped at Los Angeles’ Griffith Observatory. Adele sang “Easy On Me,” her latest single from her album, 30. But she also sang many of her classics including, “Someone Like You,” “Rolling in the Deep,” and “Hello.” The performance was spliced with her interview with Oprah, where the singer speaks about her life, her relationships, and the influences for her music.
Her single “Easy on Me” was released on streaming platforms on October 15 – breaking Spotify’s most-streamed song and day-one plays records. It also took Spotify’s most-streamed track in a week, with 84.95 million streams in the first seven days of availability. The single was Adele’s first new song in six years and is the lead track from her upcoming album, 30.
Meanwhile, the 63rd Grammys suffered a 53% year-over-year drop in total viewers this year. Only 8.8 million fans tuned in to see Cardi B, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Post Malone, and others perform. That number is the lowest viewership of any Grammys telecast to date.
A livestream of BTS watching the Grammy Premiere almost outperformed the official Grammy stream itself. That just goes to show that the American public has largely tuned out the self-congratulatory navel-gazing that most award shows have become.
10 million Americans tuned in to hear Adele sing and talk about her life. Those numbers are even more impressive when you realize Adele was competing against a Sunday Night Football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Las Vegas Raiders. That telecast drew 12.60 million viewers, so football still edged out the return of one of music’s greatest talents.
