Grammys: Kacey Musgraves, Childish Gambino win big

Feb. 10 (UPI) -- Kacey Musgraves and Childish Gambino won big at the 61st annual Grammy Awards on Sunday.

Musgraves earned Album of the Year for her release "Golden Hour." Cardi B's Invasion of Privacy, Brandi Carlie's By the Way, I Forgive You, Drake's Scorpion, H.E.R.'s self-titled release, Post Malone's Beerbongs & Bentleys, Janelle Monae's Dirty Computer and Black Panther: The Album by Kendrick Lamar were also nominated.

Musgraves dominated the country music categories, winning Best Country Album for Golden Hour and Best Country Solo Performance for "Butterflies."

Gambino's "This is America" took home both Record and Song of the Year.

Record of the Year was decided between "I Like It" by Cardi B, Bad Bunny and J Balvin; "The Joke" by Carlise; "God's Plan" by Drake; "Shallow" by Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper; "All the Stars" by Lamar and SZA; "Rockstar" by Malone featuring 21 Savage and "The Middle" by Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey.

"All the Stars" by Lamar and SZA, "Boo'd Up" by Ella Mai, "God's Plan" by Drake, "In My Blood" by Shawn Mendes, "The Joke" by Carlile, "The Middle" by Zedd, Maren Morris and Grey and "Shallow" by Gaga and Cooper were also nominated for Song of the Year.

Gambino, the rap persona of actor Donald Glover, was not in attendance to accept the awards. "This is America" also won Best Rap/Sung Performance.

Drake took home Best Rap Song for "God's Plan." The rapper accepted the award by giving a speech aimed at children wanting to make it in the music industry.

"The point is, you've already won if you have people who are singing your songs word for word, if you're a hero in your hometown. Look, if there's people who have regular jobs who are coming out in the rain and snow, spending money to buy tickets to your shows, you don't need this right here. You already won," Drake said.

Cardi B won Best Rap Album for Invasion of Privacy and was speechless at first during acceptance speech.

"Woo. The nerves are so bad. Maybe I need to start smoking weed," she joked.

Gaga was a big winner at the Grammys, winning Best Pop Solo Performance for "Joanne (Where Do You Think You're Goin?)" and Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for "Shallow." She performed "Shallow" onstage minus Cooper.

"I just want to say I'm so proud to be part of a movie that addresses mental health issues, they're so important," Gaga said while accepting the award for "Shallow." "A lot of artists deal with that. And we got to take care of each other. So, if you see somebody that is hurting, don't look away. And if you are hurting, even though it might be hard, try to find that bravery within yourself to dive deep and go tell somebody."

H.E.R. led the R&B categories winning Best R&B Album for her self-titled release and Best R&B Performance for "Best Part" featuring Daniel Caesar. Ella Mai's "Boo'd Up" won Best R&B Song while Best Rap Performance was a tie between "King's Dead" by Lamar, Jay Rock, Future and James Blake and "Bubblin" by Anderson .Paak.

Dua Lipa won Best New Artist over Chloe x Halle, Luke Combs, Greta Van Fleet, H.E.R., Margo Price, Bebe Rexha and Jorja Smith.

Other winners include Ariana Grande for Best Pop Vocal Album for Sweetener; Dua Lipa, Silk City, Diplo and Mark Ronson for Best Dance Recording for "Electricity;" Chris Cornell for Best Rock Performance for "When Bad Does Good."

Camila Cabello kicked off the ceremony with a performance of her hit single "Havana" featuring Young Thug. Cabello, who was backed by a number of dancers, was also joined by Ricky Martin, J Balvin and Arturo Sandoval. The other artists mixed in their songs like Balvin's "Mi Gente" into "Havana."

Katy Perry, Kacey Musgraves, Miley Cyrus, Little Big Town and Maren Morris performed a special tribute to Dolly Parton the music legend also took part in.

The collective performed a number of Parton's signature hits including "Here You Come Again," "Jolene" and "9 to 5."

Diana Ross was another legend who returned to the Grammys. She performed in celebration of her 75th birthday.

Smokey Robinson celebrated Motown with Lopez and Ne-Yo with the trio covering a number of hits from the influential record label including "Dancing in the Street" and "Please Mr. Postman."

Fantasia, Yolanda Adams and Andra Day celebrated the late Aretha Franklin following an in memoriam segment. The trio performed together "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman."

Shawn Mendes was on hand to perform "In My Blood" with special guest Miley Cyrus. Travis Scott made noise with an energetic performance of "No Bystanders."

Chloe X Halle performed "Where Is The Love" in honor of Donny Hathaway, Carlile sang "The Joke," Cardi B rapped "Money" and Dua Lipa performed "One Kiss" with St. Vincent.

Alicia Keys, a 15-time Grammy winner, hosted the event. The singer brought out onstage former first lady Michelle Obama, Jennifer Lopez, Jada Pinkett Smith and Gaga in order to discuss how music has affected their lives and the world for the better.

"Music has always helped me tell my story," Obama said. "Music helps us share ourselves."

Keys was also on hand to perform on piano a number of popular songs including, Drake's "In My Feelings," "Juice WLRD's "Lucid Dreams" and Mai's "Boo'd Up."