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Last night’s Grammy Awards were filled with glitz, glam and performances from some of the biggest names in music, but for much of the night, that took a back seat to the late Whitney Houston. Though the show proceeded generally as planned, virtually every performer mentioned Whitney’s memory, and host LL Cool J started the show by asking the audience to bow their heads as he read a prayer he’d prepared. And the night’s big moment was Jennifer Hudson‘s stirring take on “I Will Always Love You.”

• Adele was a big winner as she made her return to performing after throat surgery and months of vocal rest. She took home six Grammys, including Album, Song and Record of the Year. But she had to fight her way through a fairly rough rendition of her mega-hit “Rolling in the Deep” — which didn’t stop the audience from giving her a standing ovation.
• Foo Fighters also had a big night, winning five Grammys, including Best Rock Performance for “Walk” — which they also performed in a big tent set up outside L.A.’s Staples Center.
• Other multiple winners included Tony Bennett, Kanye West and dubstep act Skrillex.

Notable Performances

• The show kicked off with Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band doing his new single, “We Take Care of Our Own,” backed by an orchestra. Even Paul McCartney got on his feet in the audience.
• Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt paid tribute to the late Etta James by performing her “Sunday Kind of Love” — Alicia on keyboard, Bonnie with her guitar.
• Chris Brown made his Grammy return jumping around on a tiered stage that looked like the old Q-Bert video game. He did a medley of “Turn Up the Music” and “Beautiful People.” Chris also won Best R&B Album.
• The Beach Boys began their reunion on the Grammy stage, but first Maroon 5 and Foster the People welcomed them with faithful renditions of “Surfer Girl” and “Wouldn’t It Be Nice.” Both bands were even decked out in vintage Beach Boys costumes. Then the men of the hour did “Good Vibrations” — both Mike Love and Brian Wilson were in peak form.
• It took one legend to introduce another — Stevie Wonder brought out Paul McCartney, who performed his new single “My Valentine,” off his standards album Kisses on the Bottom. He also closed the show with The Beatles‘ “Golden Slumbers” and welcomed Bruce Springsteen and Dave Grohl to the stage for an all-star jam on “The End.”
• Katy Perry started with “E.T.,” and then what seemed to be a technical foul-up actually wasn’t — she actually made a quick costume change and did “Part of Me.”
• The Band Perry and Blake Shelton paid tribute to Glen Campbell with “Gentle on My Mind” and “Southern Nights.” Then Glen came out and performed his classic “Rhinestone Cowboy.”
• Nicki Minaj rolled out her new single “Roman Holiday” in Exorcist fashion. A video intro channeling the classic movie gave way to a theatrical, gothic stage performance complete with flames and levitation.

Odds and Ends

• Jennifer Hudson, while rehearsing “I Will Always Love You” earlier in the day for her Whitney Houston tribute, broke down and couldn’t finish.
• Not sure who sat Nicki Minaj next to Taylor Swift in the audience.
• Lady Gaga apparently messed up and wore a fishnet stocking on her face.
• Fergie‘s see-through number didn’t do anything to dispel those pregnancy rumors.
• The Civil Wars joked about having Paul McCartney open for them, then performed for a minute before giving way to Taylor Swift.
• Mario Manningham and Victor Cruz of the Super Bowl champion New York Giants helped present the Grammy for Best Rock Performance, which went to Foo Fighters for “Walk.”
• Gwyneth Paltrow kind of looked like she was headed for the gym when she introduced Adele. The top of her dress looked like a muscle shirt.
• In case you were wondering, Best New Artist Bon Iver is an indie rocker whose self-titled second album has sold a little bit less than 400,000 copies.
• In a night of legends, Diana Ross presented the prestigious Album of the Year award to Adele for 21.