2012 Grammy Awards Live Blog: Whitney Houston Tributes, Adele's Sweep, and More

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11:28 p.m. ET: Paul McCartney's still got it. How many other 69-year-olds can rock out with the Foo Fighters?

11:20 p.m. ET: Adele's won it: Album of the year for "21." After embracing LL Cool J and Diana Ross, she gave a tearful, short thank you: "Mum I love you, I'm so sorry you're not hear," she said. "Everyone's been through it … a rubbish relationship. And it's gone on to do things … I can't tell you how I feel about it. It's been a life changing year." The most endearing moment: Midway through her speech, she stopped, explaining "Oh, I've got a bit of snot."

11:12 p.m. ET: Adele's a woman of few words. She did a demure thank you accepting the record of the year Grammy.

11:05 p.m. ET: Nicki Minaj employed an entire congregation to perform "Roman in Moscow." And rapped while levitating. Easily the most over the top performance of the night.

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10:58 p.m. ET: What did you think of the electronica mashup with Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, David Guetta, Deadmau5 and Foo Fighters? General consensus on Twitter seems to be that Brown got too much airtime.

10:42 p.m. ET: Jennifer Hudson's first notes of "I Will Always Love You" must've sent chills through many. Spot on. She looks like she'd holding back tears.

10:35 p.m. ET: Indie rocker Bon Iver wins best new artist, beating out household names like Nicki Minaj.

10:05 p.m. ET: The moment so many have been waiting for: Adele's singing again after taking months off for vocal chord surgery. "Rolling in the Deep's" up first. She sounds fantastic.

9:55 p.m. ET: Later, Russell Brand. Katy Perry's performance of "Part of Me" was pretty much a slap in his face: "You chewed me and spit me out like I was poison in your mouth … This is the part of me that you're never going to ever take away from me." All sung while in a cut out metallic bodysuit.

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9:51 p.m. ET: Another Grammy for Adele - song of the year for "Rolling in the Deep." She squeals as she picks up the trophy.

9:45 p.m. ET: Taylor Swift brought the crowd to its feet with her rendition of "Mean," especially with this line: "Someday I'll be singing this at the Grammys."

9:37 p.m. ET: Chris Brown wins best R&B album. He vaugely references his three year absence from the arena following his assault on Rihanna after the 2009 Grammys: "I'd like to thank the Grammys for letting me get on this stage and do my thing."

9:31 p.m. ET: Stevie Wonder, presenting Paul McCartney: "I just want to say to Whitney up in heaven, we all love you Whitney Houston." And then he pulls out a harmonica.

9:25 p.m. ET: The Grammy crowd appears to be feeling the Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations." It's their first live performance in more than two decades.

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9:20 p.m. ET: Foster the People look like throwbacks of the Beach Boys strumming to "Wouldn't It Be Nice."

9:03 p.m. ET: Was Chris Martin's pitch off? He sounded like he was going through puberty for a while there.

8:59 p.m. ET: Lady Gaga didn't walk the red carpet, but even in the crowd, her black, high fashion, funeral appropriate outfit stands out. Especially when she appears to be trying to nuzzle with Paul McCartney.

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8:56 p.m. ET: Rihanna starts off her set with Coldplay with "We Found Love," crawling on the floor, fireworks on a screen behind her. Club beat begins and she strips off her shirt.

8:45 p.m. ET: The Foo Fighters have won four Grammy awards tonight and yet they're not on the main stage. Go figure.

8:36 p.m. ET: Jay-Z and Kayne West win best rap performance for "Otis" but neither are at the Grammys to pick up the award. New baby/fashion week obligations?

8:25 p.m. ET: Chris Brown's wearing a Letterman jacket and dancing/hopping over boxes, mimicking Michael Jackson. Compared to his MTV VMA performance last year, it's subdued, but still great. He doesn't say a thing to the crowd - salutes and walks off.

8:24 p.m. ET: Adele wins the first Grammy of the telecast, best pop solo performance for "Someone Like You." "I need to thank my doctors I suppose, who brought my voice back," she says.

8:20 p.m. ET: Alicia Keys and Bonnie Rait are paying tribute to the late Etta James with "A Sunday Kind of Love." Before starting up the piano, Keys announced, "We love Whitney Houston."

8:13 p.m. ET: Bruno Mars, during his performance, says he's paying tribute to the "beautiful Whitney." Odds are, everyone on stage will mention her at some point.

8:10 p.m. ET: After a medley of Houston clips, LL says, "This night is about healing" - through music.

8:05 p.m. ET: Host LL Cool J begins by leading the crowd in a prayer: "Tonight, we ask ourselves: How do we speak to this time, to this day? There is no way around this. We've had a death in our family. At least for me, for me, the only thing that feels right is to begin with a prayer. For a woman that we loved, for our fallen sister, Whitney Houston."

8:00 p.m. ET: Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band kick off the official ceremony with "We Take Care of Our Own."

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7:35 p.m. ET: If Rihanna is nervous about the prospect of being in the same stadium as her ex, Chris Brown, she isn't showing it. She's breezy talking to E! on the red carpet, dressed in very low cut (on both sides), black Armani gown. Her birthday's coming up, and she'll "be in London, doing the Ritz."

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7:23 p.m. ET: Nicki Minaj has arrived with … a bishop. She's wearing a large, red cape type thing. With a hood. Gaga, eat your heart out.

7:10 p.m. ET: Second (maybe) to Hudson's Houston tribute, Adele's performance is the most anticipated moment of the Grammys. E! heard the singer, fresh from vocal chord surgery, during rehearsals. They said she sounded spectacular.

6:41 p.m. ET: On the E! red carpet, Kelly Rowland reiterates what many have said leading up to tonight's ceremony: "It's a very somber tone, tonight at the Grammys. We've lost our hero."

6:39 p.m.  ET: R&B singer Kelly Price was the last person to sing with Houston. They did an imprompteau duet at a Thursday pre-Grammy party in Hollywood. "I wasn't expecting her to sing, I wasn't going to ask her to do that," Price tells E!'s Ryan Seacrest. "She walked up on the stage and said give me the mike. So I gave her the mike. And I walked up on the stage and sang with her." On Houston's death, Price says, "In my heart, I was praying it was an Internet hoax. … To realize that it wasn't, I don't even know how to explain it."

6:38 p.m. ET: It's going to be a somber celebration at the Grammys tonight. One day after Whitney Houston's sudden and untimely death, stars are hitting the red carpet and no one can stop talking about their memories of her. She'll also be a big part of tonight's show - Jennifer Hudson is slated to perform Houston's 1992 hit "I Will Always Love You."

Watch "The Death of Whitney Houston," a special edition of "Good Morning America," Monday at 7 a.m. ET, featuring special coverage about Whitney Houston's life and death. 

PHOTOS: The Grammy Red Carpet