The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards show brought together generations of talent in the music industry.
The show opened with a shimmering performance by Lady Gaga, who was soon joined by Elton John after she sang “Poker Face.” Both stars played the piano while singing a blend of Lady Gaga’s song, “Speechless” and Elton John’s “Your Song.”
The next performance was by Green Day, who sang its hit “21 Guns,” followed by a soulful performance by Beyonce that earned her a standing ovation from the audience. Beyonce had an impressive 10 Grammy nominations.
Singer Pink stunned the crowd with her acrobatic performance of “Glitter in the Air” from her Funhouse album, which was nominated for Best Pop Vocal Album, and the Black Eyed Peas pumped up the audience with its upbeat performances of “Imma Be” and “I Gotta Feeling,” with the stage set up in a futuristic, metallic way, including dancing robots.
Country music group Lady Antebellum gave a heartfelt and soothing performance of its new song, “Need You Now,” and were followed by Jamie Foxx, T-Pain, Slash and Doug E. Fresh, who performed “Blame It.”
Taylor Swift took the stage, guitar in hand, to sing “Today Was a Fairytale.” She was soon joined by Stevie Nicks, and the pair sang Fleetwood Mac’s hit, “Rihannon,” followed by a collaboration of Swift’s hit, “You Belong With Me.” Swift had eight Grammy nominations.
Celine Dion, Jennifer Hudson, Carrie Underwood, Usher and Smokey Robinson took the stage to perform a moving tribute to Michael Jackson. The group sang Jackson’s “Earth Song,” along with a 3-D movie playing in the background. Jackson’s children, Prince and Paris, came to the stage to accept their father’s lifetime achievement award.
Bon Jovi rocked the stage with its first-ever Grammy performance. He began by singing, “We Weren’t Born to Follow,” and later sang their hit song “Livin’ On a Prayer,” which was voted on by fans.
As a touching tribute to Haiti, Mary J. Blige, Andrea Bocelli and David Foster performed “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” which is available for download on iTunes to support Haiti. Adam Sandler then introduced The Dave Matthews Band, who sang “You and Me.”
R&B singer Maxwell took the stage to sing “Pretty Wings,” the song that won him a Grammy for Best R&B song. Jeff Beck then sang a tribute to Les Paul with his song, “How High the Moon.”
For the last performance of the night, Lil Wayne, Eminem, Drake, and Travis Barker performed a high-energy, impressive version of “Forever” that wowed the audience.
The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards was full of high-energy performances that truly showcased the talent of today’s current music stars.
The winners announced at the show include:
