LOS ANGELES, Feb 13 — Adele’s heartache ballad Hello won the Grammy today for Song of the Year, in a new triumph for the blockbuster single that marked the English singer’s victorious return.

Adele and the Los Angeles producer Greg Kurstin shared the award, which recognises best songwriting.

"Thank you for your patience with me and helping to create my favorite song I’ve ever done,” Adele said as she accepted the award, moments after she restarted a performance in her second straight year of technical snafus.

Hello beat out Beyonce’s edgy Formation.

It is the second time Adele has won for Song of the Year. She triumphed in 2012 with English producer Paul Epworth for Rolling in the Deep.

Hello was the first single off 25, Adele’s follow-up to her blockbuster 2011 album 21, and proved that the singer had not lost an ounce of her massive commercial power.

Adele chose not to change her winning formula of heartache ballads, with Hello forlornly describing her failed attempts to reach someone from her past to apologise.

Hello went to number one in much of the world and became the first single to sell one million downloads in one week.

The music video, the first ever filmed in the high-end IMAX format and directed by Canadian filmmaker Xavier Dolan, is the 10th most viewed ever on YouTube.

She performed the song to open the Grammys today. Her second song, George Michael’s Fastlove in tribute to the late pop singer, went awry at the start, prompting Adele to stop and start over. — AFP

Adele and co-song writer Greg Kurstin accept the Grammy for Song of the Year for ‘Hello’ at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California February 13, 2017. — Reuters pic