Adele swept the 54th Annual Grammy Awards Sunday night, taking home six trophies including album of the year for 21 and record of the year and song of the year for Rolling in the Deep.

She broke down in tears accepting the album trophy explaining that 21 was inspired by something very normal -- "a rubbish relationship."

"It's gone on to do things -- I can't tell you how I feel about it. It's been a life-changing year."

She then joked about rubbing away a bit of snot as she continued her speech.

Gwyneth Paltrow introduced Adele's triumphant return to the stage. She looked a little nervous while delivering a powerful performance of Rolling in the Deep, but there's no doubt Adele's voice survived her vocal cord surgery beautifully.

The crowd gave her an extended and rousing standing ovation.

Of course, the death of Whitney Houston impacted the Grammy broadcast heavily. Jennifer Hudson delivered a very tasteful and emotional performance of I Will Always Love You late in the show, ending it by singing "Whitney, we will always love you."

It was obvious Jennifer was working hard to keep her composure as she sang.

Show host LL Cool J shared a heartfelt prayer in memory of Whitney Houston at the top of the awards broadcast saying, "We've had a death in our family. So at least for me, the only thing that feels right is to begin with a prayer for a woman who we loved, for our fallen sister, Whitney Houston."

He added, "Although she is gone too soon, we remain truly blessed to have been touched by her beautiful spirit."

A clip of Whitney performing I Will Always Love You at the Grammy Awards in 1993 followed the prayer.

LL then moved the focus to celebrating the music of the night saying, "Whitney, we will always love you. And tonight, we will remember you the best way we know how, with a song."

Bruce Springsteen kicked this year's Grammys off performing his new single, We Take Care of Our Own, backed up by his E Street Band and a string section.

Bruno Mars rocked a gold coat and bowtie for a high-energy performance of Runaway Baby from his album Doo-Wops & Hooligans.

He got the industry crowd on their feet channeling James Brown and saying, “Tonight, we celebrate music."

We celebrate the beautiful Miss Whitney Houston, so, get up off your rich asses and let's have some fun!"

Alicia Keys and Bonnie Raitt paid tribute to the other diva the music world lost recently — Etta James — with a performance of Sunday Kind of Love.

The Beach Boys' tribute portion kicked off with Maroon 5 performing Surfer Girl. Foster the People took over with a breezy delivery of Wouldn't It Be Nice, though lead singer Mark Foster looked a little scared on camera.

The Beach Boys themselves, including Brian Wilson, then reunited onstage to celebrate their 50th anniversary with a performance of Good Vibrations.

Stevie Wonder paid tribute to Whitney Houston with a few remarks and played a bit of the Beatles Love Me Do before introducing Sir Paul McCartney.

Joe Walsh and Diana Krall joined McCartney as he sang My Valentine from his new album, Kisses on the Bottom.