Lady Antebellum Steals The Show
LOS ANGELES (CBS) — Powered by the smash-hit single "Need You Now" and the album of the same name, the country trio Lady Antebellum dominated music's biggest night tonight, taking home five Grammy Awards, including song and record of the year.
The trio of Charles Kelley, Dave Haywood and Hillary Scott went into the 53rd annual Grammy Awards with six nominations, and won in all but one of the categories.
"This past year has completely changed our whole lives and we love you all," Scott said as the group accepted the song of the year Grammy at Staples Center. The group also won the Grammy for best country album, country song and country performance by a duo or group with vocals.
Lady Gaga, who garnered all the pre-show publicity by arriving inside a giant egg carried by her monsters, among them model Anne Vyalitsyna, won the Grammy for best pop vocal album for "The Fame Monster." She thanked her fans and family, noting that "I had this dream when I was really young that I could be whoever I wanted to be," and she vowed to realize that dream "no matter who didn't believe in me."
She also offered thanks to Whitney Houston. "When I wrote `Born This Way' I imagined she was singing it," she said. Gaga also won a Grammy for female pop vocal performance and short-form music video for "Bad Romance."
Performance highlights included a first time appearance by music legend Mick Jagger, paying tribute to Solomon Burke with a rendition of "Everybody Needs Somebody To Love and Barbara Streisand, MusiCares person of the year, singing "Evergreen". Memorable group performances included "F*** You" singer Cee Lo Green, channeling vintage Elton John in a peacock suit with Muppet background vocalists and Eminem, Rihanna and Dr. Dre.
Last year's telecast, with nearly 26 million viewers, was the most- watched Grammy show since 2004. That was, however, far short of the biggest Grammy audience of 51.67 million in 1984, when Michael Jackson won a record eight awards.
