February 1st, 2010
Original Article from Rolling Stone
Female artists dominated the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, with Beyoncé and Taylor Swift leading the charge. Beyoncé tallied the most awards, scooping up six trophies — the most ever for a female artist on a single Grammy night — most notably Song of the Year and Best R&B Song for “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “Halo.” It was Swift who took home the night’s biggest award, however, nabbing Album of the Year for 2009’s best-selling LP, Fearless, making her the youngest artist ever to receive the award. Swift won four awards total, including Best Country Album (also Fearless), Best Country Song and Best Female Country Vocal Performance (both “White Horse”).
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The woman who opened the show with a powerhouse duet with Elton John, Lady Gaga, won a pair of awards — Best Dance Album for The Fame and Best Electronica/Dance Song for “Poker Face” — but both were announced during a pre-telecast ceremony. Kings of Leon grabbed three awards, all revolving around their hit “Use Somebody,” Jay-Z scored three trophies for singles (his Blueprint 3 wasn’t eligible this year) and the Black Eyed Peas also won three Grammys including Best Pop Vocal Album for The E.N.D.
Green Day followed up a memorable performance of “21 Guns” with the American Idiot musical cast by winning Best Rock Album for 21st Century Breakdown. In awards handed out before the big show, Bruce Springsteen’s “Working on a Dream” was named Best Solo Rock Performance, Jeff Beck — who also performed in a tribute to Les Paul — won Best Rock Instrumental Performance for “A Day in the Life,” the Beatles won Best Long Form Video and French electronic pop group Phoenix pulled out a surprise victory in the Best Alternative Album category with Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix. Check out the winner’s list here.
The Grammys are known for its high-wattage performances as much as its hardware, and last night’s show was packed with big-name team-ups. Lady Gaga got the party started with “Poker Face” before taking a seat at her piano (adorned with mannequin limbs) and facing off against Elton John on her “Speechless” and his “Your Song.” Beyoncé and a SWAT team of dancers mashed up I Am… Sasha Fierce hit “If I Were a Boy” with Alanis Morrisette’s “You Oughta Know.” Pink spun in the air soaking wet during a performance of “Glitter in the Air.” And Lil Wayne, Eminem, Drake and Travis Barker had all of America wondering if their speakers were broken with a profanity-laced, severely edited medley of Rebirth’s “Drop the World” and the hit “Forever.”
The ceremony also included a 3-D tribute to Michael Jackson featuring Celine Dion, Smokey Robinson, Jennifer Hudson, Usher and Carrie Underwood singing along with the King of Pop’s “Earth Song.” Jackson’s two eldest children accepted their father’s posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award in one of the night’s most touching moments. Jeff Beck led a special Les Paul tribute while Jamie Foxx’s “Blame It” merged T-Pain, opera, Doug E Fresh and Slash performing the “November Rain” solo into one strange performance. While the idea natural in theory, the Taylor Swift and Stevie Nicks duet on “Rihannon” and “You Belong With Me” sounded a bit flat and out-of-sync. And even though the Dave Matthews Band were shut out of any Grammy wins, the group did provide broke out a full choir, horns and string section for a rendition of his “You & Me.”
For a full rundown of the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, be sure to check out our live blog and all of Rolling Stone’s essential Grammy coverage.
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