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The 54th annual Grammy Awards kicked off with a song and a prayer on Sunday night, as the Recording Academy took time to pay tribute to Whitney Houston after her untimely and tragic death at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, on Saturday afternoon.

Host LL Cool J opened the ceremony by telling the audience: "There is no way around this. We've had a death in our family," before reading a prayer for the late singer.

"Heavenly father, we thank you for sharing our sister Whitney with us," Cool J said. "Though she is gone too soon, we remain truly blessed to have been touched by her beautiful spirit."

Bruno Mars also included the late singer in his performance of "Runaway Baby," saying, "Tonight we're celebrating. Tonight we're celebrating the beautiful Miss Whitney Houston," while Jennifer Hudson performed a tribute to Houston during the main ceremony.

21221222396 by YardieGoals Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt paid tribute to the late Etta James, who died last month. Mitch and Janis Winehouse were at the ceremony to honor Amy Winehouse, who won Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for "Body And Soul" with Tony Bennett. "We shouldn't be here. Our darling daughter should be here," Winehouse's father, Mitch, said after he accepted the Grammy for his late daughter.

And while Kanye West -- who was not in attendance -- led the pack with seven nominations this year, it was Adele who reigned queen of the Grammys tonight!

The British songstress took home awards for Song of the Year, "Rolling in the Deep," Best Pop Solo Performance for "Someone Like You," Album Of The Year, 21, Record of the Year, and Best Pop Vocal Album!

Adele gushed onstage after winning her first award of the night, "I can't believe I'm getting emotional already. My life changed when I wrote this song, and I felt it before anyone even heard it, and seeing as it's a vocal performance, I need to thank my doctors, I suppose, who brought my voice back."

Country songstress Taylor Swift also won big tonight, taking home the Grammy for Best Country Song and Best Country Solo Performance for her anti-bullying song, "Mean."

Chris Brown, Rihanna and Coldplay, Kelly Clarkson and Jason Aldean, Taylor Swift and Katy Perry also performed live during tonight's awards show.

Check out a complete list of the Grammy Awards winners, after the jump ...

LL Cool J will host the 2012 Grammy Awards, and this is the first time in 7 years that the show will have an official host.

"I'm thrilled to be part of Music's Biggest Night," the rapper said in a statement. "I will always have fond memories of my first Grammy Awards and to now be hosting the Grammy show, in the company of so many other incredible artists, is a dream come true."

LL Cool J has hosted the live Grammy nominations concert show each year since 2008, and Queen Latifah was the most recent host of the Grammys, back in 2005.

The Grammys will air on February 12 on CBS at 8pm, and artists and nominees including Kelly Clarkson, Foo Fighters, Bruno Mars, Nicki Minaj, and Taylor Swift are slated to perform.

Wednesday night's live "Grammy Nominations Concert" may have been dominated by Lady Gaga's opening and closing acts, but this year's noms were all about Kanye West and Adele!

The controversial rapper won seven noms, including Song of the Year and Best Rap Song for "All of the Lights", a collaboration with Rihanna, Kid Cudi and Fergie, and Rap Album of the Year for "My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy."

Meanwhile, bluesy British singer Adele, who is currently recovering from throat surgery, nabbed the most prestigious nominations of the year, including Album of the Year, for "21", Record of the Year, and Song of the Year, for her hit single "Rolling in the Deep". The singer also boasts the biggest album of 2011, with sales reaching an impressive 4.7 million.

Nicki Minaj nabbed the coveted Best New Artist nom, the Foo Fighters and Bruno Mars won six nominations apiece, and rapper Lil Wayne scored five.

Mumford & Sons and Rihanna each earned four nods, while Lady Gaga earned Song and Record of the Year honors for "Born This Way."

Katy Perry, who broke Michael Jackson's record this year with five #1 singles from her hit album, "Teenage Dream," scored the prestigious Record of the Year nod for "Firework".

Aside from Gaga's show-stopping performance of her new single, "Marry the Night," Rihanna, Sugarland and Ludacris also took to the stage, with LL Cool J hosting the hour-long special.

The 54th Annual Grammy Awards airs live on CBS Feb. 12, check out the full list of nominees right here!

Justin Bieber was NOT among the winners tonight!

So who was? Country group Lady Antebellum and Arcade Fire took Record of the Year and Album of the Year, respectively. Song of the Year went to Lady Antebellum for Need You Now, as did the prize for Best Country Album.

Changing tracks, Best Rap Album went to Eminem for Recovery, while Usher took Best R&B Album.

Lady Gaga won the award for Best Pop Vocal Album for Fame Monster, beating our the Biebs.

Click through a list of other winners in the major categories ...

It's gettin' hot, crack a window, air it out!

Do these two have chemistry or what?!

Ri's performance with Eminem was different ... but equally as hot, particularly when Dr. Dre took the stage! Check it out ...

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SO CUTE! Boyfriend-girlfriend Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez both dressed in innocent winter white at the Grammys tonight and while they didn't walk the red carpet together, Selena presented in his category and looked like she was dressed to stand next to her chart-topping partner.

Bieber preformed with his mentor, Usher, and with 12-year-old Jaden Smith, who appears in JB's hit movie Never Say Never.

She may have ripped off Madonna, but Lady Gaga rocked it tonight at the Grammy Awards with her performance of Born This Way. Check it out!

Forget You! I'll be singing this in my head all night!