BEYONCE became the most decorated female on Grammy night as she collected six trophies, including song of the year for her anthem Single Ladies.
But it was another diva – Taylor Swift – who nabbed the top honour, album of the year, for her best-selling Fearless.
Taylor Swift, who won four awards, jumped around at the star-studded event as she beat Beyonce, the Dave Matthews Band, Lady Gaga and the Black Eyed Peas to the honour.
“Oh wow – thank you so much! I just hope that you know how much this means to me.... that we get to take this back to Nashville,” said Taylor.
Although Beyonce lost out on record of the year, which went to the Kings of Leon’s Use Somebody, the entertainer still owned the most awards of the evening.
She shared the song of the year trophy with three writers for Single Ladies and also won best R&B contemporary album for I Am ... Sasha Fierce.
“This has been such an amazing night for me and I’d love to thank the Grammys,” Beyonce said after winning best female pop vocal for Halo.
The Kings of Leon were a bit more entertaining when they picked up their record of the year trophy, the family quartet’s third of the night.
“I’m not going to lie, we’re all a little drunk. But we’re happy drunks,” said lead singer Caleb Followill.
Lady Gaga won two Grammys during the pre-telecast ceremony but lost out on record, song and album of the year.
But she made her presence felt as she performed with Elton John. The pair melded her song Speechless and his classic Your Song together in a performance that featured duelling pianos and glitter-painted faces.
Taylor Swift, who was second to Beyonce in Grammy nominations with eight nods, also won best country album among her other awards.
Many stars in the glittering show wore red cross buttons in support of Haiti earthquake relief.
Mary J. Blige joined Andrea Bocelli in a rousing rendition of Bridge Over Troubled Water, designed to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the song’s big Grammy wins and to raise money for the victims of the Haiti earthquake.