Swift victory at Grammys

Country superstar Taylor Swift joined music royalty Sunday night, taking home the Grammy for album of the year for "Fearless" and three other honors.

Swift was on hand for the pre-televised awards, accepting her first Grammy for best female country vocal performance for "White Horse" and taking the stage again just a few minutes later to accept the award for best county song, also for "White Horse," which she co-wrote with Liz Rose. She later performed with one of her idols, Stevie Nicks, singing parts of Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams" and Swift's "You Belong With Me."

The ladies reigned supreme at the 52nd annual awards, with fellow album of the year nominee Beyonce taking home six awards, including a songwriting honor for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)," which was named song of the year.

Performances dominated the broadcast. Lady Gaga and Elton John literally sang each other's praises as they opened the show, joining forces -- vocally and on the piano -- in a modern take on John's classic "Your Song" and donning glittery glasses as only they could. John modified the lyrics slightly in the last chorus, singing "how wonderful life is with Gaga in the world."

Punk rockers Green Day and the cast of the musical "American Idiot" (based on the band's award-winning album of the same name) rocked "21 Guns," while Pink brought the crowd to its feet with her graceful high-flying acrobatics during "Glitter in the Air." The Black Eyed Peas declared "welcome to the future" as robots joined them on stage for a combination of "Imma Be" and "I Gotta Feeling," while Grammy award-winning country trio Lady Antebellum crooned "Need You Now." And Jamie Foxx and T-Pain kicked it opera-style (OK, more like hip-hopera style) on "Blame It," complete with a guitar solo from Slash.

Charleston native Stephen Colbert, winner for best comedy album, presented the first televised award for "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)." Beyonce performed a short while later, surprising the crowd with her selection of song, the ballad "If I Were a Boy," and by inserting a section from Alanis Morissette's "You Oughta Know."

Rockers Kings of Leon were cutoff by the unsavory "hurry-up music" as they accepted the award for record of the year for "Use Somebody." The family band (three brothers and a cousin) also won multiple awards before the telecast, giving the group three awards on the night.

In two of the night's most poignant moments, Celine Dion, Usher, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson and Smokey Robinson sang along with a recorded track of the late Michael Jackson on "Earth Song." Jackson's children Paris and Prince then accepted a lifetime achievement award on their father's behalf. Mary J. Blige and Andrea Bocelli combined soul and vibrato on Simon & Garfunkel's "Bridge Over Troubled Water," a tribute to the earthquake victims in Haiti. The performance can be purchased online at itunes.com/Target, with proceeds going to relief efforts.

Reach Jessica Runnels at jrunnels@postandcourier.com