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Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, 'Hamilton' cast, Hollywood Vampires perform Grammy show-stoppers

By Karen Butler
Lady Gaga arrives for the 58th annual Grammy Awards held at Staples Center in Los Angeles on February 15, 2016. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI
1 of 10 | Lady Gaga arrives for the 58th annual Grammy Awards held at Staples Center in Los Angeles on February 15, 2016. Photo by Jim Ruymen/UPI | License Photo

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Performances led by Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, Hollywood Vampires and the cast of Hamilton were among the highlights of Monday night's Grammy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.

Lamar sang a medley of "The Blacker the Berry," "Alright" and a new song against a backdrop designed to look like a jail, while he and his fellow performers dressed as prisoners. The segment, which also featured African drummers and dancers, ended by flashing on a map of Africa with the word Compton in the center of it.

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Lady Gaga paid tribute to the late David Bowie by wearing several, other-worldly, Bowie-style costumes as she gamely tore through his song catalogue, offering snippets of classics like "Space Oddity," "Changes," "Rebel, Rebel," "Fame," "Under Pressure," "Let's Dance" and "Heroes."

Hollywood Vampires -- comprised of Johnny Depp, Joe Perry and Alice Cooper -- made their television debut, loudly singing "Ace of Spades" on a gothic-looking set, complete with smoke and flame effects. They were on-hand to honor the late Motorhead front man Lemmy Kilmister.

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The cast of Hamilton also energetically performed "Alexander Hamilton" -- the opening from Broadway's hip-hop musical -- via satellite from its New York theater.

Other artists to sing during the CBS program were Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, Carrie Underwood and Sam Hunt, Ellie Goulding and Andra Day, Little Big Town, Adele, Justin Bieber, Bonnie Raitt and Pitbull.

The broadcast also acknowledged the 2016 MusiCares Person of the Year, Lionel Richie, with performances of some of his greatest hits by John Legend, Luke Bryan, Demi Lovato and Meghan Trainor. Richie then took the stage to join them in a rendition of "All Night Long."

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