Grammy Awards Live Report

0450 GMT: And with the US recording industry's big night out winding up on a hard-rocking note -- with Nine Inch Nails, Dave Grohl, Lindsey Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac fame and Queens of the Stone Age taking the stage -- we wrap up AFP's Live Report of the 56th annual Grammy Awards. Thanks for joining us. 0442 GMT: Soft-rock songsmith turned Daft Punk collaborator Paul Williams did the talking: "You know, I just got a message from The Robots, and what they wanted me to say is that, as elegant and as classy as the Grammys have ever been, is the moment when we ... saw all those wonderful marriages, and that 'Same Love' is fantastic. It was the height of fairness and love and the power of love for all people at any time in any combination. It's what they wanted me to say." Daft Punk had reached out to a host of forgotten 1970s hit-makers for their much-hyped album, including Williams (who penned hits for The Carpenters as well as the theme for "The Love Boat"); he contributed "Touch" to "Random Access Memories," Daft Punk's fourth studio effort. 0435 GMT: And to close out the night ... the Grammy for album of the year ... goes to Daft Punk for "Random Access Memories." Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter, still in their white tunics, embrace each other. "This is the most insane thing ever," Niles Rodgers quips. 0425 GMT: The Grammys' lengthy and heartfelt tribute to recording artists have passed away over the past year leads into an Everly Brothers tribute by Miranda Lambert and (on acoustic guitar) Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong, performing "When Will I Be Loved?" Phil Everly died on January 3, shortly before his 75th birthday; he is survived by his brother Don. They were seminal figures in the early days of rock 'n' roll. 0420 GMT: Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi told reporters backstage he is feeling "fine" while undergoing treatment for cancer, which threatened a comeback tour by the British metal veterans last year, Michael Thurston reports. "I'm feeling fine at the moment .... its going alright," said Iommi after Black Sabbath won the best metal performance Grammy. "When I have a treatment every eight weeks ... I get tired afterwards for a couple of weeks." Nevertheless, bassist Geezer Butler confirmed the band plans to keep on touring, with two dates scheduled in the United States, 14 in Canada, and then Europe and Dubai "and all those places." 0410 GMT: There's a serious gospel-slash-hip hop vibe now with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis doing a powerful rendition of their marriage equality anthem "Same Love" featuring New Orleans jazzman Trombone Shorty with Mary Lambert on vocals. And here we go: the mass wedding. Queen Latifah wed the assembled couples, "by the power vested in me by the state of California," before Madonna emerges in a white cowboy pantsuit for the happily-ever-after finale and the Staples Center reinvents itself as one big Las Vegas kind of wedding temple. 0358 GMT: And the Grammy for record of the year goes to ... Daft Punk for "Get Lucky." Once again, Pharrell Williams does the talking: "I suppose The Robots would like to thank...," he begins, getting laughs from the audience. And then he adds: "I bet France is really proud of these guys right now." Motown legend Smokey Robinson is on stage for the presentation, and Niles Rodgers is back as well, rightfully basking in the glow of his return to the forefront of pop. My colleague Marisha Goldhamer Sherry explains: "Record of the year is awarded for a single or for one track from an album. This award goes to the performing artist, the producer, recording engineer, and/or mixer for that song." None of the nominees this year had ever been nominated in the category before. 0350 GMT: Jared Leto pays tribute to the late Lou Reed. "The world lost a genius last year," he says, after reciting the instantly recognizable lyrics of "Walk on the Wild Side." Leto then introduces another of the evening's more eccentric musical collaborations: Metallica versus Lang Lang, the young Chinese-born, New York-based concert pianist better known for Liszt than heavy metal. Laser lights galore. Projected onto the back of the stage is a procession of World War II soldiers -- so maybe that earlier "War Horse" moment with Katy Perry wasn't a fluke. (The show, by the way, is on tour in the United States right now.) 0340 GMT: Lorde wins song of the year for "Royals," collecting her second big Grammy of the night alongside her songwriting partner Joel Little, who she thanks for nurturing her remarkable talent. It's the first Grammy for Little, who earlier in his music career fronted a New Zealand punk outfit called Goodnight Nurse and later set up his own production studio in Auckland. 0335 GMT: More pianos! Carole King and Sara Bareilles tickle the ivories with a medley that blends "Beautiful" and "Brave." Clearly they're enjoying themselves enormously. "What a thrill to see the future of music in such good hands," says King, before the two announce the winner of song of the year, the highly coveted Grammy for songwriting. 0330 GMT: We're now entering the final hour of the show, with album of the year, record of the year and song of the year yet to be awarded. 0327 GMT: Time now for living legend Stevie Wonder and Chic-meister Niles Rodgers to join Pharrell Williams for "Get Lucky" before Daft Punk themselves join the fun, tweaking the controls of a studio soundboard, wearing sharp white tunics and their signature glossy helmets -- dashing any remote hope they might for once bare their faces. If the Gallic dance duo's mission was to get the Staples Center crowd up on their feet and swinging, they definitely succeeded. 0322 GMT: A big win for Kacey Musgraves for "Same Trailer Different Park," which hit number one in the Billboard country album charts and number two on the wider Billboard 200 table. Musgraves had four nominations this year, marking the first Grammy nominations of her career. She had two nominations in Best Country Song for songwriting. 0318 GMT: The Grammys gala now is having a seriously Nashville moment with Willie Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Merle Haggard and Blake Shelton running through such gems as "Mammas Don't Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys," warming up the crowd for the best country album laurel (for which Shelton is a nominee). 0315 GMT: This just in from AFP's West Coast bureau chief Michael Thurston, down in the Staples Center press room: "Paul McCartney joked around backstage with the surviving members of Nirvana, including David Grohl, after they won best rock song for 'Cut Me Some Slack.' "He recounted how Grohl invited him over, and he didnt initially know who the other musicians were. Then he realized they were the surviving members of Nirvana, whose lead singer Kurt Cobain died in 1994. "'I found myself in the middle of a Nirvana reunion and I was very happy,' said McCartney, adding that he took a "cigar box" guitar -- which Johnny Depp had just given him -- to the session which lasted three or four hours. "'They are great to play with because they're a great band. They were a great band with Kurt. That's what I experienced on the day, just playing with a really good band, which is a great privilege, and a very special thing -- I should know,' quipped the ex-Beatle." 0308 GMT: Time now for best pop vocal album. And the winner is ... Bruno Mars for "Unorthodox Jukebox." He dedicated his Grammy to his mother, who died last year at the age of 55 just as he was about to go on tour. The Grammy win bodes well for Mars' upcoming half-time Super Bowl gig. The Hawaii native collected the 2010 Grammy for best male pop vocal performance for ?Just The Way You Are? and scored four nominations in 2013. 0305 GMT: Julia Roberts just popped in to introduce Paul McCartney and ... Ringo! So we do have a Beatles reunion. But in lieu of a Fab Four favorite, they're off and running with "Queenie Eye" from McCartney's 2013 solo album "Now." Paul is on the (what else?) piano. Ringo is at the drum set, very much at home there. They take a bow together, to a standing ovation. 0249 GMT: Newly minted country hitmaker Kacey Musgraves is up now, sharing the stage with her band and some neon cactuses, performing "Follow Your Arrow," which is about ignoring your critics and staying true to your dreams. Expect fashionista watercooler talk Monday about her radically flared fringe miniskirt and those funky cowboy boots with the blinking lights. 0243 GMT: LL Cool J takes a minute to salute Def Jam records, which put out its first recordings -- including "Rock Hard" from the Beastie Boys" -- 30 years ago this year, before ceding the stage to Kendrick Lamar and Las Vegas alt-rockers Imagine Dragons in crisp white suits performing "M.A.A.D. City" and "Radioactive." Taylor Swift is dancing up a storm in the front row. 0238 GMT: Jay-Z just picked up the Grammy for best rap/sung collaboration for "Holy Grail" featuring Justin Timberlake. Beyonce looks mighty proud as the hip hop supremo hoists his Grammy and tells baby daughter Blue Ivy: "Look, Daddy got a gold sippy cup for you!" 0230 GMT: A crewcut Ringo Starr in a glittering jacket on the forever-black stage now, singing (a bit off-key) his 1973 hit "Photograph" which he wrote in collaboration with George Harrison, who died in 2001. There's an impressive big band with him, but not Paul McCartney, dashing hopes of a half-of-the Beatles reunion. By the way, John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono is in the house. 0224 GMT: And the Grammy for best pop solo goes to Lorde for "Royals," that bling-dissing song that nobody could escape this past year. "This is the one thing I did not expect the most tonight," the 17-year-old New Zealander says, looking charmingly awkward. She could yet be back on stage for record of the year. 0215 GMT: Pink now performing, dangling from the ceiling in a Cirque de Soleil kind of aerial acrobatic act. Hard to imagine she's singing "Try" and swinging from rafters at the same time. A quick costume change and she joins Nate Ruess in a long lacy outfit for a duet featuring "Just Give Me a Reason." 0208 GMT: Yet another piano number, this time with Taylor Swift playing "All Too Well." Her pet number 13 can be seen above the keyboard. The way she's flippin' her hair back is certain to be one of this year's Grammy moments. She looks emotionally exhausted at the end -- she had been seen dancing to Beyonce earlier -- as the CBS cameras panned over to her proud mom and dad, joining a standing ovation. 0202 GMT: And best rock song goes to ... a Beatle and friends. "Cut Me Some Slack," a collaboration between Dave Grohl (the Nirvana drummer who went out to launch Foo Fighters), Paul McCartney (who looked genuinely surprised at the win), plus Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear. Grohl recalls how the song came out of a jam session: "To me, that is what rock and roll is all about." McCartney remembered how Grohl suggested covering "Long Tall Sally" but the Beatle said it had been done before, and how about something different? 0157 GMT: Multiple Grammy winner John Legend on stage now at the piano with his soulful ballad "All of Me" off his latest album "Love in the Future." No doubt he's testing the audience reaction ahead of his North American tour that starts March 20. 0149 GMT: Time now for a country ballad from Australia's best-known transplant to Nashville, Keith Urban, taking a break from his "American Idol" judging duties alongside Texas blues guitarist and past Grammy traditional R&B winner Gary Clark, Jr. 0146 GMT: And now the first of the more unusual Grammy collaborations: Chicago vs Robin Thicke. Which is coming across as more convincing than one might have expected, as they run through such brassy Chicago hits from the 1970s as "Saturday in the Park" before closing out with Thicke's chart hit "Blurred Lines." Mercifully, the Grammy producers have put the dark gloomy staging to bed... 0135 GMT: Katy Perry performing now. The same dark black stage that we had with Beyonce/Jay-Z and Lorde, this time with a dark goth theme. Was that supposed to be a cameo appearance by the horse from "War Horse"? 0129 GMT: Best duo/group performance now, and it's a treasure trove after a year of remarkable musical collaborations. And the winner is ... "Get Lucky" from Daft Punk featuring Pharrell Williams. True to character, "The Robots," as Williams affectionately branded the French duo, remained anonymous in their dark helmets and didn't utter a word. Nice to see on stage with them is Nile Rodgers of "Chic" fame, who contributed his signature disco guitar riffs to the dance hit. 0123 GMT: Up now is Millenial crooner Hunter Hayes, which a colleague has just designated "the Justin Bieber of country music." Behind him appears slogans from the likes of Steve Jobs, Johnny Depp and this one from Lady Gaga: "There really is no difference between the bully and the victim." 0116 GMT: Lorde on stage now, with a white sleeveless blouse, black pleated trousers and a version of "Royals" that manages to be even more minimal than the recording. 0115 GMT: Macklemore says: "While we are here on the stage, I want to thank our fans the people who got us on this stage... Without them, there would be no us." Cheers all round when Macklemore recalls how "The Heist" was made "independently" without record-label support. 0112 GMT: And the winner of best new artist is ... Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. 0107 GMT: LL Cool J begins his hosting duties, namechecking Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, Keith Urban, Robin Thicke, Kendrick Lamar and Pink. Plus "four young men from Liverpool." Paul and Ringo are seen sitting together in the audience -- we await seeing them together on stage, too. 0104 GMT: And the show begins! Starting with Beyonce and "Drunk in Love." Lots of smoke and flashing lights and cheers from the crowd. And Jay-Z in a tuxedo joining Mrs Carter... 0050 GMT: And in the R&B category, Brooklyn-based fusion band Snarky Puppy and Chicago-born soul songstress Lalah Hathaway won best R&B performance for "Something," It was their first-ever Grammy win. 0045 GMT: Also earlier Sunday, South Africa's Ladysmith Black Mambazo and flamenco fusionists the Gipsy Kings, both longtime favorites at the Grammys, shared the honors for best world music album. "Savor Flaemco" was the first album completely written and produced by the Gipsy Kings, six-time Grammy nominees who come from southern France but trace their roots mostly to Spanish Roma culture. Ladysmith Black Mambazo, whose rhythmic a cappella performances preserve the musical traditions of South Africa's black mine workers, shared the Grammy for their live album "Singing for Peace Around the World." 0030 GMT: In the run-up to the live telecast on CBS, they've been giving out Grammys all day. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, who are up for album of the year and best new artist, collected best rap performance and best rap song for "Thrift Shop," along with best rap album for "The Heist." Funky French electro duo Daft Punk took best dance/electronica album as well as sound engineering. 0020 GMT: "I feel like history's going to be made tonight and I want to be part of that," said seven-time Grammy winner Madonna on the red carpet. She tipped to appear with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis who are due to perform their hit "Same Love" -- at which moment 34 gay and straight couples will marry, the New York Times reports. Among the newlyweds: Lewis's sister. 0005 GMT: My colleague Mick Thurston (@MickyT) reported earlier: "Many of the stars turned out Saturday night for legendary music producer Clive Davis's annual pre-Grammys party at the Beverly Hilton hotel -- where pop icon Whitney Houston died in her hotel bathroom on the eve of the 2012 show. "Going into Sunday's show, Jay-Z scored the most nominations with nine nods, followed by California hip-hop star Lamar, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Timberlake and Pharrell Williams with seven each, while Canadian rapper Drake scored five. "Tipped by many for coveted Record Of The Year was Daft Punk's 'Get Lucky,' but rival nominees include Kiwi teenager Lorde's 'Royals,' 'Radioactive' by Imagine Dragons and Hawaiian crooner Bruno Mars's 'Locked Out Of Heaven.' "Robin Thicke's 'Blurred Lines' -- made infamous by Miley Cyrus's twerking at last year's MTV Video Music Awards show -- is also competing for the evening's top prize." 0000 GMT: Hello and welcome to AFP's Live Report on the 56th annual Grammy Awards. The music industry's Big Night Out at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles gets underway in an hour or so and we'll be on top of everything that happens over the ensuing three-and-a-half hours. The nine most prestigious awards -- out of a total 82 -- will be presented in between a raft of live performances, including some unusual collaborations, like Metallica alongside classical pianist Lang Lang. Jay-Z, Beyonce, Kendrick Lamar, Daft Punk, Lorde, Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis are just some of this year's nominees. We're also promised something of a Beatles reunion, as Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr come together for a Lifetime Achievement Award for the Fab Four on the 50th anniversary of their first appearance on US soil. Daft Punk celebrate on stage during the 56th Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, January 26, 2014 Macklemore (L), Ryan Lewis (2ndR), Mary Lambert (2ndL), Madonna (C) perform the song "Same Love" during the 56th Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, January 26, 2014 Winners for Best Song Of The Year "Royals" Lorde and Joel Little accept the trophy on stage during the 56th Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, January 26, 2014 Kacey Musgraves poses in the press room during the 56th Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, January 26, 2014 Winner for Best Pop Vocal Album "Unorthodox Jukebox" Bruno Mars accepts his trophy during the 56th Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, January 26, 2014 Beyonce Knowles and Jay-Z perform on stage during the 56th Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, January 26, 2014 Winners for Best Rock Song Paul McCartney (L) and Dave Grohl (with Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear) give their acceptance speech on stage during the 56th Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, January 26, 2014 Winners For Best New Artist Macklemore (C) and Ryan Lewis accept their trophy on stage during the 56th Grammy Awards at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California, January 26, 2014