LL Cool J will host the 54th Annual Grammy Awards taking place tonight at 8 p.m. ET/PT at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California.
Diana Ross will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award and performances include: Rihanna, Tony Bennett, Carrie Underwood, Chris Brown, Adele and more.
To honor Grammy-Award winning singer Whitney Houston, who died yesterday, Jennifer Hudson is expected to sing a medley of her hits. Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt will pay tribute to Etta James.
Kanye West has seven nominations, topping Adele, Bruno Mars and Foo Fighters who each have six. Lil Wayne and Skrillex follow with five nominations.
8:00 p.m. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band open the show. Bruce asks: “America, are you alive out there?”
8:04 p.m. LL Cool J, host of this year’s Grammy Awards, begins the show by addressing Whitney Houston’s death and saying a prayer.
8:07 p.m. A clip of Whitney Houston singing her hit song “I Will Always Love You” is played.
8:11 p.m. Bruno Mars performs in the style of James Brown.
8:20 p.m. Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt sing “A Sunday Kind of Love” in tribute to Etta James.
Adele accepts her first Grammy of the night
8:24 p.m. The first award of the night for Best Pop Solo Performance goes to Adele for “Someone Like You.”
8:25 p.m. Chris Brown takes the stage performing “Turn Up the Music” and “Beautiful People.”
8:36 p.m. Fergie and Marc Anthony announce Jay-Z and Kanye West as the winners of the Best Rap Performance category for their song “Otis.” Both rappers are not in attendance.
8:37 p.m. Jason Aldean and Kelly Clarkson perform “Don’t You Wanna Stay.”
8:47 p.m. Foo Fighters perform outside the Staples Center. The group has already won four Grammys tonight.
8:56 p.m. Rihanna sings “We Found Love” then joins Coldplay to sing “Princess of China.” Coldplay then performs their hit song “Paradise.”
9:12 p.m. The Grammy for Best Rock Performance goes to Foo Fighters for “Walk.” Lead singer Dave Grohl said they made the record in his garage with a microphone and tape recorder.
Maroon 5 lead singer Adam Levine joins The Beach Boys on stage
9:16 p.m. Maroon 5 leads the celebration of the Beach Boys with “Surfer Girl.” Foster the People sings the next song “Wouldn’t It Be Nice.”
9:21 p.m. The Beach Boys reunite on their 50th anniversary and sing “Good Vibrations.” Maroon 5 and Foster the People join for the second half of the song.
9:30 p.m. This year’s Trustees Awards were given to Dave Bartholomew, Steve Jobs and Rudy Van Gelder.
9:31 p.m. Stevie Wonder receives a standing ovation as he comes out to announce the next performer. Plays harmonica and sings as he introduces Paul McCartney.
9:32 p.m. Paul McCartney sings “My Valentine” sitting on a stool with an orchestra playing behind him.
9:36 p.m. Common and Taraji P. Henson honor the deceased Gil Scott-Heron and present the Grammy for Best R&B Album to Chris Brown.
9:38 p.m. The Civil Wars come out and say “We would like to thank all of our opening acts.” Jokes!
Taylor Swift plays the banjo while performing "Mean"
9:40 p.m. Taylor Swift embraces her country side while performing “Mean.” She plays a banjo and dresses like she is in “Little House on the Prairie.”
9:50 p.m. Neil Patrick Harris presents the Grammy for Best Song of the Year to Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth for “Rolling in Deep.” That was definitely one award most will agree on.
9:52 p.m. Katy Perry performs “E.T.” and dresses like a superhero for “Part of Me.”
9:57 p.m. Best Country Album is awarded to Lady Antebellum for “Own the Night.”
10:05 p.m. Adele begins her much anticipated performance singing “Rolling in the Deep.” So effortless and beautiful. We are all glad her voice is back. The show allows time for the standing ovation to go uninterrupted.
10:16 p.m. Taylor Swift announces the Glen Campbell tribute with The Band Perry and Blake Shelton.
10:21 p.m. Glen Campbell takes the stage singing “Rhinestone Cowboy.”
10:24 p.m. Glen Campbell is one of this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipients. Other recipients include: Allman Brothers Band, Antonio Carlos Jobim, The Memphis Horns, George Jones and Diana Ross.
10:30 p.m. Carrie Underwood asks Tony Bennett to join her on stage to sing the duet “It Had To Be You.”
10:33 p.m. The Grammy for Best New Artist goes to Bon Iver. He is so tall! The mic is definitely too low for him.
10:38 p.m. In Memorium video tribute honors those lost this past year including: Amy Winehouse, Nick Ashford, Steve Jobs, Heavy D, Johnny Otis, Marv Tarplin, Whitney Houston and many more.
Jennifer Hudson sings "I Will Always Love You" without crying
10:42 p.m. Jennifer Hudson sings “I Will Always Love You” in tribute to Whitney Houston. Such a sentimental performance. She ends with “Whitney, we love you.”
10:50 p.m. Salute to today’s dance music takes place outside the Staples Center at L.A. Live with Chris Brown, Lil Wayne, David Guetta, Deadmau5 and Foo Fighters.
11:04 p.m. Drake introduces Nicki Minaj and calls her “intelligent, beautiful and driven.” Nicki titles her performance “The Exorcism of the Roman” and begins with a video parody of “The Exorcist.” She truly puts on a show while singing her song “Roman Holiday.”
11:10 p.m. Lady Antebellum presents the Grammy for Record of the Year to Adele for “Rolling in the Deep.” No surprise there!
11:18 p.m. Diana Ross joins LL Cool J to announce Album of the Year. The Grammy goes to Adele for “21.” She cries as she gives her thank you speech. Said the album was inspired by a “rubbish relationship.” Adele really cleaned up tonight but her wins were certainly well deserved.
11:23 p.m. Paul McCartney closes out the show with “Carry that Weight” and “The Love We Make.”
If the Foo Fighters aren’t the best band of this generation, I don’t know who is. I turned off The Walking Dead to watch them perform. Now that’s dedication.
Nate Dogg was another talent that kind of gets buried under this year’s dead list