THE GRAMMY'S....THE TALE ON THE 54TH!!!



Special Tribute Plaque on the Grammy's walkway for Late Whitney Houston

And the 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards held at Staples Center on February 12, 2012 in Los Angeles, California. Despite the dark cloud cast over the event, by the sudden death of singer, Whitney Houston, 24 hours before, the award ceremony was a huge success regardless. The Grammys got underway Sunday as The Recording Academy grappled with the task of paying tribute to one of their fallen greats, Whitney Houston, while at the same time honoring the best in music, from the irreverent to the poignant.
It was a delicate balance. The show started off with Bruce Springsteen, complete with a string section, performing his new song "We Take Care of Our Own," a rousing song that references the troubles of the nation. 

LL Cool J, as he led prayers in honor of Whitney Houston

But soon after, a somber LL Cool J, the show's host, appeared in black, and told the audience: "There is no way around this. We've had a death in our family."
He then led the audience in prayer to "our fallen sister, Whitney Houston.
"Heavenly father, we thank you for sharing our sister Whitney with us," he said, as celebrities like Lady Gaga and Miranda Lambert bowed their heads in prayer. "Though she is gone too soon, we remain truly blessed to have been touched by her beautiful spirit."
He introduced a clip of a glowing Houston singing one of her best-known songs, "I Will Always Love You." LL Cool said afterward: "Whitney, we will always love you."
In his performance of "Runaway Baby," Bruno Mars also mentioned the death: "Tonight we're celebrating the beautiful Miss Whitney Houston."

A tribute to Houston featuring Jennifer Hudson also took place during the main ceremony as Hudson sang Whitney's most popular song of all times, "I will always love you". Not a single dry eye could be seen as all remembered one of their own.

Jennifer Hudson singing "I will always love you" at the event

Before the death of one of pop music's most important figures, the pre-Grammy buzz focused on whether Adele — 2011's top-selling artist and set to make her first public performance on the show since having vocal cord surgery — would be the queen of the Grammys. Although Kanye West led all nominees with seven and Bruno Mars and the Foo Fighters tied Adele with six nominations, she was favored to sweep all of her categories.
Still, while Houston's death cast a shadow over the night's winners, it did not obscure them.
The Foo Fighters emerged as big winners, capturing five of the six categories they were nominated in, and they still had a chance to win the evening's top award, album of the year.

Foo Fighters at the Grammys

Frontman Dave Grohl noted that the band made their album, "Wasting Light," in their garage.
"To me this award means a lot because it shows that the human element of making music is what's most important. Singing into a microphone, learning to play an instrument and learning to do your craft, that's the most important thing for people to do," he said as the band accepted their best rock performance trophy for "Walk." '
'It's not about being perfect. It's not about sounding absolutely correct. It's not about what goes on in a computer. It's about what goes on in here (your heart) and what goes on here (your head). ... Long live rock 'n' roll!"
Kanye West, who was the top nominee with seven, had won four by the midway point in the show; he was not present.

Adele, picking up one of her 6 Grammy awards.

Adele, the biggest winner of the night, with 6 grammys for all the categories she was nominated, gave a brief speech which in part referenced the vocal ailment that forced her to cancel her tour and keep a low profile for much of last year, despite her blockbuster success.
"I can't believe I'm getting emotional already," she said. "And seeing as it's a vocal performance, I need to thank my doctors, I suppose, who brought my voice back."
The Grammys did their best to keep a tone that balanced the many moods of the night: The Foo Fighters performed in a tent outside the Staples Center, where the awards were being held, amid a throng of bouncing fans; but moments earlier, Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt paid tribute to Etta James, the legend who died last month.
There was also a tribute to the recently reunited Beach Boys that featured Maroon 5, Foster the People and Mike Love, Al Jardine and Brian Wilson, the three remaining members of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band, all pitch-perfect as they brought the groups California rock sound and harmonies back to life.

Ladies of Gospel fame also performed during the ceremony including the duo, Trinitee 5:7.


Ladies of Gospel giving a great performance

and Gospel artiste, Kirk Franklin took home two Grammies for his album title track "Hello Fear" with Chris Tomlin, taking one for Christian Contemporary Album.

Kirk Franklin with his two Grammy's

And in a noteworthy occurrence, Rihanna and Brown appeared at the same awards show since his attack on her three years ago — also on the eve of the Grammys — forced both to drop out of the show and led to an assault conviction for Brown. It almost derailed his career, but 2011 marked a huge comeback, and he was rewarded with a Grammy performance slot on Sunday night's CBS broadcast; He also carted away the grammy award for R& B album.
Diana Ross received the Lifetime Achievement Award that evening as well.

Diana Ross with her Life Achievement Award

 The ceremony also marks the first since a major overhaul of the categories last year: They were trimmed from 109 to 78 categories.

"Check out the full list of winners in our next blog post"

Article contains some news from Yahoo News!