The music stars were out to play at last night’s 54th Grammy Awards, broadcast live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles by CBS. It was an amazing night of legendary talent – both new and old from Chris Brown to Diana Ross, Taylor Swift to Glen Campbell, then Stevie Wonder presenting Sir Paul McCartney and with unlikely collaborations in between, from Rihanna and Coldplay; to Maroon Five and the Beach Boys.
The fun started early on with red carpet arrivals from electronic dance music artist deadmau5 playing a prank on Skrillex at the Grammys by wearing his competitor’s phone number on his shirt to Nicki Minaj’s “Little Red Riding Hood” inspired Versace cape on the arm of a bishop.
But there was an undeniable heaviness to the crowd. There was a lot of questions buzzing about how to pay proper tribute to the late Whitney Houston. The 48-year-old singing legend was found dead in her room at the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel by music mogul and mentor to the singer Clive Davis just hours before his annual pre-awards show party. She was later announced dead by her publicist that Saturday afternoon. But all skepticism was put aside when Grammys host LL Cool J opened the ceremony with a moment of silence for Houston. “There’s no way around this,” host LL Cool J said. “We’ve had a death in our family.”
The Grammy host began the award show with a prayer dedicated to Whitney Houston:
“Heavenly father, we thank you for sharing our sister Whitney with us. Today, our thoughts are with her mother, her daughter, and all of her loved ones, and although she’s gone too soon, we remain truly blessed to have been blessed by her beautiful spirit.”
There were several other acknowledgements to the late singer from Alicia Keys’ poignant words of paying tribute to Rihanna’s encouraging the crowd to “dance for Whitney” and of course, the most heartfelt moment of the night when Jennifer Hudson performed Houston’s biggest hit, “I Will Always Love You,” as a tribute to the late star.
Six-time nominee and an undeniable favorite from last year, Adele, took home the first Grammy of the night for her heartbreaking track “Someone Like You.” The 23-year-old British singer was the favorite of 2011. Her sophomore album 21 was the top-selling album of last year, with a final tally of 5.82 million copies moved during the year. Meanwhile, her hit single “Rolling in the Deep” was the year’s bestselling cut with 5.81 million copies. Adele was nominated for six awards, including Best Album, Song of the Year, Record of the Year, Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Pop Solo Performance.
It was clear that she was the queen of the evening, winning the “triple crown” for record, song and album of the year.
By her last Grammy win, she was teary-eyed as she took to the microphone to thank her supporters, her collaborators, and her “Mum” back home.
“This record is inspired by something that is really normal and everyone’s been through it, which is a rubbish relationship,” she said. “And it’s gone on to do things that I can’t tell you how I feel about it. It’s been a life-changing year.”
So, who else took home the gold at the Grammys? Here is a list of some last night’s winners:
Record of the Year
“Rolling in the Deep” by Adele
Song of the Year
“Rolling in the Deep” by Adele Adkins & Paul Epworth
Best New Artist
Bon Iver
Best Pop Solo Performance
“Someone Like You” by Adele
Best Rap Performance
“Otis” by Kanye West & Jay-Z
Best Rock Performance
“Walk” by Foo Fighters
Best R&B Album
Fame by Chris Brown
Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group
“Body and Soul” by Tony Bennett & Amy Winehouse
Best Alternative Album
Bon Iver by Bon Iver
Best Rock Song
“Walk” by Foo Fighters
Best Rap Performance
“Otis” by Jay-Z and Kanye West
Best Country Album
“Own the Night” by Lady Antebellum
Best Country Song
“Mean” by Taylor Swift
You can read the full list here.
Did your favorite nominee win in last night’s awards show? Share with us in the comments box below!