Beyonce, the year’s top Grammy nominee with 10 bids, was the early leader Sunday as she won four trophies during the pre-telecast ceremony including best R&B song for her omnipresent hit, “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It).”
Beyonce also won best R&B contemporary album for “I Am … Sasha Fierce,” best R&B female vocal for “Single Ladies” and best traditional R&B performance for “At Last,” from her movie “Cadillac Records.”
The Black Eyed Peas were right behind her with three awards, including best pop vocal album.
Other top nominees were also winners, including Taylor Swift, who was the runner-up for the most Grammy nominations with eight.
“This is my first Grammy you guys! I mean, this is a Grammy,” an excited Swift said as she held her first trophy of the night, best female country vocal for “White Horse.” She also won best country song for “White Horse” with songwriter Liz Rose.
Lady Gaga was also among double-winners, along with the Kings of Leon, Jay-Z, Eminem, and Maxwell.
Maxwell, up for six awards, also won his first Grammys — best R&B male vocal for the ballad “Pretty Wings” and best R&B album for “BLACKsummers’ night.” The album marked the R&B crooner’s return after an absence of eight years from the music business.
“I am a little bit choked up right now. This is my first Grammy, and it means a lot to me,” said Maxwell said after picking up his award for “Pretty Wings.”
Other notable winners in the pre-telecast ceremony included Michael J. Fox for best spoken world album for “Always Looking Up,” and producer and DJ David Guetta, one of the night’s top nominees, for best remixed recording, non-classical, for his song “When Love Takes Over.”
“I got five nominations so it means that finally DJ culture and dance music is growing in America,” said Guetta, who is also nominated for his work with the Black Eyed Peas.
While Beyonce has won a caseload of Grammys during her career, she hasn’t won the prestigious album of the year trophy. There was a possibility that could change Sunday. The superstar was nominated for album of the year for “I Am … Sasha Fierce,” as well as record of the year for “Halo,” and song of the year for “Single Ladies.”
Swift was also up for the evening’s three top awards: “Fearless” was nominated for album of the year, and her song “You Belong With Me” was nominated for both record and song of the year. Swift, whose country album became the most popular album of any genre last year, has captured top awards at just about every awards show she’s been at over the last year.
Lady Gaga is another relative newcomer up for top awards.
Although she was disqualified from the best new artist category because her first single, “Just Dance,” was released last fall and nominated for a Grammy, the Recording Academy more than made up for her exclusion in that category. Like Beyonce and Swift, she was also up for record and song of the year, for “Poker Face,” and album of the year for “The Fame.”
Rounding out the album of the year category were the Black Eyed Peas’ “The E.N.D.,” and the Dave Matthews Band’s “Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King.” The latter album was the band’s first release since the death of founding member and saxophonist LeRoi Moore.
The show was to include a special 3-D tribute to Michael Jackson featuring a video clip he made of “Earth Song” as Usher, Carrie Underwood, Celine Dion, Jennifer Hudson and Smokey Robinson sing along.
Mary J. Blige and Andrea Bocelli were to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Grammy wins by “Bridge Over Troubled Water” with a special performance of the classic song, which will be made available on iTunes. The proceeds will be donated to Haiti relief.
Early winners in selected major categories at Sunday’s 52nd Annual Grammy Awards:
Pop Vocal Album: “The E.N.D.”, The Black Eyed Peas
Male Pop Vocal Performance: “Make It Mine,” Jason Mraz
Rock Song: “Use Somebody,” Kings of Leon
R&B Album: “BLACKsummers’night, “Maxwell
R&B Song: “Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It),” Beyonce Knowles
Rap Album: “Relapse,” Eminem
Rap Song: “Run This Town,” Jay-Z, Rihanna and Kanye West
Female Country Vocal Performance: “White Horse,” Taylor Swift
Male Country Vocal Performance: “Sweet Thing,” Keith Urban,
Latin Pop Album: “Sin Frenos,” La Quinta Estacion
Contemporary Jazz Album: “75,” Joe Zawinul & The Zawinul Syndicate
Classical Album: “Mahler: Symphony No. 8; Adagio from Symphony No. 10”
Traditional Gospel Album: “Oh Happy Day,” various artists
Dance Recording: “Poker Face,” Lady Gaga
Electronic Dance Album: “The Fame,” Lady Gaga
Alternative Music Album: “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix,” Phoenix
Spoken Word Album: “Always Looking Up,” Michael J. Fox
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The full winners list in all 109 categories will be available at http://www.grammy.com
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