Beyonce makes history; Taylor Swift wins, too Beyonce, pop's reigning diva, earned six Grammys on Sunday, more than any woman on a single night of the 52-year-old awards show. Her anthem "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)" was song of the year.

The Grammys' four biggest awards were split four ways: 20-year-old country chanteuse Taylor Swift won album of the year; family rockers Kings of Leon won record of the year for "Use Somebody"; and the Zac Brown Band was named best new artist.

The Grammys in recent years have tried to emphasize the music more than the awards, particularly by pairing younger performers with veterans. This year, producers nailed it, with a double album's worth of memorable performances.

Among the best were the Black Eyed Peas, who sang "I Gotta Feeling" with a stage filled with what looked like dancing tomatoes and robots. Lady Gaga was predictably over the top, singing "Poker Face" and getting tossed into a bucket of fire before emerging singed and combining forces with an equally dirtied and bemused Elton John.

Green Day turned its "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" into a soaring beauty by joining the cast of a new musical based on its "American Idiot" album. Opera singer Andrea Bocelli held his own with a powerful, and heart-breaking rendition of "Bridge Over Troubled Water," done for the benefit of Haitian earthquake victims.

An acrobatic Pink turned her "Glitter in the Air" into a Cirque de Soleil-like performance, hanging suspended over the audience as she sang. "That was amazing," an impressed Keith Urban said after she was done.

Swift, who won four Grammys, was the night's most visible winner. She beamed during her duet with Stevie Nicks, and seemed thrilled in her two acceptance speeches — while staying poised enough to thank her record company for letting her write her own songs, and express pride at bringing the album of the year prize to Nashville.

"This is for my dad," she said. "Thank you for all the times you said I could do whatever I wanted to do."

- Posted on February 1, 2010