As a new songbird claimed the Grammy spotlight, the ghost of Whitney Houston hovered over the 54th annual ceremony.
Expectedly, British powerhouse Adele swept her six nominated categories, including song and record of the year for "Rolling in the Deep," and album of the year for the 6-million-selling "21."
Accepting the most prestigious prize, a crying Adele said, "This record is inspired by something really normal, a rubbish relationship and it’s gone on to do things that I can't tell you how I feel about it. It’s been the most life-changing year."
But with the surprising death of Whitney Houston on the eve of the Super Bowl of music, the Grammys were forced to detour to acknowledge the loss.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's rousing rendition of the new "We Take Care of Our Own" and show-ending jam with Paul McCartney on "Golden Slumbers"/"Carry That Weight" would have been breathless water cooler fodder any other year. And the impressive five wins for stalwart rockers Foo Fighters, the trifecta for dance producer Skrillex and a pair for indie folkie Bon Iver -- denying favorite Nicki Minaj for best new artist -- would command headlines at a different Grammys.
But on this night, the Staples Center audience in Los Angeles and the millions watching worldwide were most interested to see how LL Cool J – the first host employed on the show in almost a decade – would approach the shadow suspended over the awards.
“There is no way around this,” a subdued LL started. “We’ve had a death in our family, so at least for me, the only thing that feels right is to begin with a prayer for the woman we loved, for a fallen sister.”
A clip of Houston’s soaring performance of “I Will Always Love You,” from the 1993 Grammys, followed the prayer, earning a standing ovation from the crowd.
But then LL encouraged the audience to return to the present: “This night is about music.”
Nearly 20 minutes into the three-and-a-half-hour show, Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt took the stage to mention Houston and present the first award of the night with a musical tribute to Etta James.
The pair belted “A Sunday Kind of Love” before announcing Adele’s “Someone Like You” as the best pop vocal performance victor.
The singer, sidelined for months with vocal cord issues, visibly trembled as she accepted.
“Seeing that [this award is for] a vocal performance, I should thank my doctors for bringing my voice back,” she said.
Adele, who won her first two Grammys in 2008, later proved that she’s fully healed, as she blasted through a stunning “Rolling in the Deep” and let out a triumphant yelp at song’s end.
An absent Kanye West won four awards, including best rap performance for “Otis,” his collaboration with Jay-Z. Atlanta-born West entered the Grammys with a leading seven nominations.
Among the standouts in the performance-heavy show was a sweet tribute to Glen Campell, who has Alzheimer's disease, by The Band Perry and Blake Shelton, capped by Campbell himself joyfully strolling through “Rhinestone Cowboy.”
And Jennifer Hudson's hastily assembled tribute to Houston, coming, fittingly, at the close of the "In memorium" segment, was a powerful musical eulogy. Accompanied by sparse piano, Hudson clearly sank every fiber of emotion into "I Will Always Love You" and changed the lyrics at song's end to "Whitney, we love you."
Other showcases included surprise best R&B album winner Chris Brown displaying fleet feet (and some apparent lip-synching skills); a bizarre "Exorcist"-themed "Roman Holiday" from Nicki Minaj; and Maroon 5 (a strained “Surfer Girl”) and Foster the People (a limp “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”) joining the Beach Boys (a solid “Good Vibrations”) for their anticipated reunion.
Macon-born Jason Aldean turned out a potent duet with Kelly Clarkson on their nominated “Don’t You Wanna Stay.” But the singer, enjoying a breakthrough year, lost in all of his three nominated categories, including country album of the year, which went to last year’s major winners – and Georgia affiliates -- Lady Antebellum.
Atlanta artists had minimal impact during the pre-show ceremony, when 68 of the 78 awards were presented.
Soul stud Cee Lo Green wasn’t present when “Fool for You,” his duet with Melanie Fiona, nabbed a pair of Grammys for best R&B song and best traditional R&B performance. His album, “The Lady Killer” also lost to the unstoppable Adele.
First-time winner Laura Story, a worship leader at Perimeter Church in Johns Creek, scored Best contemporary Christian music song for “Blessings.” Story was up against fellow Atlantans Jamie Grace Harper (”Hold Me”) and Chris Tomlin and Louis Giglio (”I Lift My Hands”).
Along with providing a shout-out to Perimeter Church, Story thanked her husband, Martin, “whose faith inspires so many blessings.”
But although Tomlin, a worship leader at Passion City Church in Atlanta, lost in two of his trio of nominated categories, he did snag a gramophone for best contemporary Christian music album for “And If Our God Is For Us…”
“This is an unbelievable dream,” said the black-suit-and-tie clad Tomlin, who dashed from the back of the Los Angeles Convention Center – where the pre-show is held – to accept.
After thanking his parents, wife and baby daughter, Tomlin commented,”The [title track] of the album, it’s not just a clever lyric, it’s the very word of God… I’m so thankful for that truth today.”
Other Atlantans going home empty-handed this year are Canton Jones, who bowed to Kirk Franklin for best gospel song; Michael Brant DeMaria, whose “Gaia” lost to Pat Metheny for best new age album; Mastodon, who yielded to the Foo Fighters for best hard rock/metal performance; and the Zac Brown Band, whose “Where the River Goes” from “Footloose” was bested by Alan Menken’s “I See the Light” from “Tangled” for best song written for visual media.
Among all of the nominations, Georgia had 23 names factoring into 18 categories. The Grammys are determined by about 13,000 voting members of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences. The eligibility period for nominated recordings was Oct. 1, 2010, to Sept. 30, 2011.
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