For the culmination of a diverse musical year, the industry's biggest stars came together on Sunday, Feb. 8 at the 51st Annual Grammy Awards.
Some of the night's big winners included Robert Plant (of Led Zeppelin fame) and Allison Krauss, ever-popular rock band Coldplay and up-and-coming British singer Adele.
Plant and Krauss swept the awards, winning Record of the Year for "Please Read the Letter," Album of the Year for Raising Sand and Best Pop Collaboration for "Rich Women."
Coldplay also won a hefty number of awards, including Song of the Year and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group for "Viva La Vida," and Best Rock Album for Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends.
Newcomer Adele beat out the Jonas Brothers and Duffy for the Best New Artist award, as well as taking home the award for Best Female Pop Vocal.
Music mainstay John Mayer swiftly won Best Male Pop Vocal with his catchy, albeit repetitive, "Say."
Alternative music fans were overjoyed when Radiohead outshined Beck, My Morning Jacket and Death Cab for Cutie and took home the award for Best Alternative Music Album with In Rainbows.
Jennifer Hudson's self-titled debut Jennifer Hudson rightfully won Best R&B Album, while Lil' Wayne received the award for Best Rap Album for The Carter Show.
Though the Grammy's main attraction is the presentation of awards, this year's exceedingly diverse and entertaining performances highlighted the show.
One of the first interesting performances of the night was collaboration between the Jonas Brothers and music legend Stevie Wonder. They performed the Jonas Brothers' "Burnin' Up," and Wonder's "Superstition." It was no secret that despite the brothers' over-the-top fame, they were in awe to be playing with such an important musical figure.
Radiohead performed a haunting rendition of their song "15 Step", and Justin Timberlake and rapper T.I. expertly performed the song "Dead and Gone."
The audience was less-than-enthused with the highly publicized duet between Miley Cyrus and Taylor Swift. While Swift's musical talent is undeniable, it was distracting to see Cyrus try to out-sing her contemporary.
A notable upset occurred when musical artists Chris Brown and Rihanna - the latter of whom was supposed to open the event - failed to show up at the Grammys. Reports later indicated that Brown had been arrested the previous night on charges of assault, though few details have been released as of yet. Whether or not the incident involved Rihanna, Brown's girlfriend, has not been confirmed. Other performers stepped up to fill in the space in the entertainment line-up left by Brown's and Rihanna's absences.
Aside from the awards and performances, punk rock trio Blink-182's official announcement that they are reuniting to create another album generated much excitement from the older teenage community.