Immediately following the Grammys two Sundays ago, people began wondering how it was that Adele was chosen to do the George Michael tribute solo. According to gossip, Grammy producers originally wanted Adele, Beyonce and Rihanna to do the tribute together, and they wanted the three women to do one of George Michael’s more iconic songs – iconic in America, I think – like “Freedom” or “One More Try” maybe. Some say that Adele pulled rank and demanded to do the tribute alone. Some say that producers jettisoned Beyonce and Rihanna from the tribute when producers saw how keen Adele was to do it solo. Now Adele says that George Michael’s family asked that she alone do the tribute:

Adele has revealed that George Michael’s family only wanted her to perform a tribute to him at the year’s Grammys.

Adele told Sunday People : “I was devastated, I had to go for a walk on my own and on Boxing Day I said to Simon, my partner, I have to do that tribute. They didn’t want a tribute at first – his family and camp – and they came back and were very specific that it be me. I said, ‘Great, I have got something in the pipeline. If you want me to do it, I will do it.’”

Adele, 28, added: “When the video came out, I was blown away by how f–king hot he was.”

“It is exceptional how good looking he was.” She also said George, whose hits included “Faith” and “Father Figure,” influenced her with his views on life and fame.

She said: “I found him one of the ­truest icons, because when people are that famous there is not fakeness in a bad way but they put on an alter ego to protect themselves, and rightly so. I understand and appreciate that.”

[From Page Six]

Does this make you think less of Adele? Last week, people were really mad at her because it felt like she had flat-out rejected the idea of performing with Rihanna and Beyonce. My take at the time was that it was the producers’ call, and if they really wanted those three women to do it, they would have gotten it, probably. But now I do think that Adele basically forced the Grammys to do it her way, because she was trying to honor his family’s wishes. Is that a drama-queen move or was she just using her power to have the tribute be family-approved? I don’t know. I still think it would have been cool to have Bey and Rih up there too.

Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet.