By Lavanya Ramanathan
Lavanya Ramanathan
Features reporter

Beyonce kicked off the Grammys telecast with a steamy performance of the raunchy “Drunk in Love,” an early single off last month’s surprise album, “Beyonce.”

With her hair as damp as it is in the song’s beachy video, the singer, a 17-time Grammy winner, writhed on a chair solo for much of the song, but it wasn’t until she was joined by husband Jay Z that we suddenly felt the song’s siren call. With a single, so-subtle-you-shouldn’t-have-even-noticed butt grab — and yes, the little visual Beyonce seemed to give us every time she spat the word “surfboard” — we got a peek at the chemistry between Bey and Jay, married couple. And it was way sexier than Katy Perry on a stripper pole.

The Internet exploded, and it’s not surprising.  This is a couple who sat separately at awards ceremonies when they were dating several years ago; the butt grab was as unpracticed as anything we’ve ever seen them do. The pair kept up the warm affection — albeit in a more G-rated way — when they reached their seats later, exchanging pecks and snuggles just before Jay Z picked up his Grammy for “Holy Grail.”