Beyonce wins 5 Grammys, including song of the year for anthem ‘Single Ladies’

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Beyonce wins 5 Grammys, including song of the year

LOS ANGELES — Beyonce led the Grammys with five trophies including song of the year early in Sunday night’s award program, where she was the favorite with 10 nominations.

Beyonce won the songwriting trophy along with three writers for her omnipresent anthem “Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It).” The superstar also won best R&B contemporary album for “I Am … Sasha Fierce” among her other awards, and still had the opportunity to win the evening’s other top awards — record and album of the year.

Beyonce wasn’t on hand to accept her early trophies: She was preparing for her dramatic onstage rendition of “If I Were A Boy,” one of several hits from her top-selling third CD.

Lady Gaga delivered the early show-stopper with a typically eye-popping spectacle that included another piano-playing diva, Elton John.

Lady Gaga, who already won two Grammys during the pre-telecast ceremony, kicked off the night with a sequined green leotard with massive shoulders as she sang her Grammy-nominated hit “Poker Face” amid an elaborate stage that included dramatic choreography and pyrotechnics.

Moments later, she scaled things down a bit — as much as Lady Gaga can — and brought out Elton John as they melded her song “Speechless” and his classic “Your Song” together in a performance that featured dueling pianos, and glitter-painted faces.

Taylor Swift, who was second to Beyonce in Grammy nominations with eight nods, won three early awards, including best country album. Though the 20-year-old has won just about every award imaginable over the past year for her best-selling CD “Fearless,” she was wide-eyed and emotional when she accepted her trophy for the country album.

“I just keep thinking back to when you’re in second grade and you sing in the talent show for the first time and people joke around and say, ‘Maybe we’ll see you at the Grammys some day.’ But that just seems like an impossible dream,” she said. “I just feel like I’m standing here accepting an impossible dream.”

The Grammy for best new artist went to the Zac Brown Band.

The Black Eyed Peas also had three trophies from the pre-telecast, and other double winners were 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.”

While Beyonce has won a caseload of Grammys during her career, she hasn’t won album of the year. That had the potential to 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.”

Swift lost out on song of the year, but her “Fearless,” the most popular album of any genre last year, was nominated for album of the year, and her song “You Belong With Me” was nominated for record of the year.

Gaga’s “Poker Face” was up for record of the year 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.

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THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — 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.

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