Kings of Leon wins record of the year for ‘Use Somebody’; Beyonce leads all winners with 5

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Kings of Leon wins record of the year

LOS ANGELES — The Kings of Leon’s inspirational, romantic ode “Use Somebody” has been named the Grammy record of the year.

The family quartet beat out Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Taylor Swift and the Black Eyed Peas for the coveted trophy at Sunday night’s ceremony in Los Angeles.

The rock group has won three Grammys.

Beyonce remains the leading winner of the evening with five midway through the show.

On the Net:

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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 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.

On the Net:

www.grammys.com