The hit singer accepted six Grammys — with the potential to win a seventh — for her album I am... Sasha Fierce and hit songs like Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It).
"This has been such an amazing night for me and I'd love to thank the Grammys," she said as she took the stage to accept the trophy for best female pop vocal performance for her ballad Halo.
Her voice wavering with emotion, she also thanked her fans and her family, extending the shout-out to husband — and another of Sunday night's multiple Grammy-winners — Jay-Z.
She had previously earned the televised show's first award of the night — song of the year for Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It) — and turned in a spirited performance of her track If I Were a Boy and Alanis Morissette's You Oughta Know.
Coming into Sunday with a leading 10 nominations, she was a dominant force even at the non-televised Los Angeles gala Sunday afternoon, where she won contemporary R&B album for I am...Sasha Fierce, best R&B song and best female R&B vocal performance for Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It) and traditional R&B performance for At Last, from the film Cadillac Records.
Beyoncé led what was largely a ladies night at the Grammys, with chart-toppers Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga also scoring multiple honours.
Country ingenue Swift was honoured with the best country album Grammy for her bestselling release, Fearless.
"This is my first time walking up those stairs to accept a Grammy on national television!" she exclaimed. "I just feel like I'm standing here accepting an impossible dream."
She showed as much enthusiasm as when she accepted a pair of trophies (female country vocal performance and country song for White Horse) at the pre-show ceremony and declared, "This is my first Grammy, you guys!"
Outrageous dance-pop artist Lady Gaga kicked off Sunday night's broadcast with a fiery, eye-popping performance that segued into a duet with British icon Elton John. She too started the gala with a pair of Grammys already under her belt: dance recording for Poker Face and electronic/dance album for The Fame.
Southern rockers Kings of Leon landed a trio of Grammys, with the track Use Somebody winning the band the coveted record of the year title, best rock duo or group and best rock song.
The Black Eyed Peas, another top contender, started the broadcast having already won three Grammys: for their album The E.N.D. (pop vocal album) and their hit songs I Gotta Feeling (pop performance by a duo or group with vocals) and Boom Boom Pow (short-form music video).
Other key winners included:
•Country's Zac Brown Band, winner of best new artist after the success of its debut album The Foundation.
•Jay-Z, whose track Run This Town (featuring Rihanna and Kanye West) was named best rap/sung collaboration and best rap song. His song D.O.A. (Death of Autotune) also picked up the Grammy for best rap solo performance.
•Hit TV satirist Stephen Colbert, whose A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All! was named best comedy album.
•Green Day, who picked up best rock album for 21st Century Breakdown.
•Rapper Eminem, whose album Relapse won best rap album and whose track Crack a Bottle (featuring Dr. Dre and 50 Cent) scored rap duo or group performance.
•Double-winner R&B singer Maxwell (R&B album for BLACKsummers'night and best male R&B vocal performance for Pretty Wings).
•Singer-songwriter Jason Mraz, whose tune Make It Mine nabbed male pop vocal performance and whose duet Lucky (with Colbie Caillat) won pop collaboration with vocals.
Along with Gaga, Beyoncé, Black Eyed Peas and country group Lady Antebellum, performers also included Green Day, who took the stage with cast members of their musical American Idiot, and singer Pink, who participated in an impressive aerial acrobatics routine while singing her ballad I Don't Believe You.
The show also featured periodic mentions of special Grammy award winners — including lifetime achievement award winners Leonard Cohen and Loretta Lynn — and some out-of-the-ordinary performances.
Céline Dion, Usher, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson and Smokey Robinson performed along with a recording of Michael Jackson's Earth Song, in front of 3-D footage created for the late Jackson's This is It concerts. Two of Jackson's children, Prince Michael and Paris, then accepted their father's lifetime achievement award.
Mary J. Blige and Andrea Bocelli teamed up to sing the classic Simon and Garfunkel song Bridge Over Troubled Waters, with their collaboration to be offered for sale as a charity single supporting Haitian earthquake relief at the iTunes online music store.
99 categories on pre-telecast
Earlier in the afternoon, a fast-paced pre-telecast gala — hosted by Grammy-winning singers Kurt Elling and Tia Carrere — awarded trophies in 99 categories.
Several Canadians were among those early winners.
Neil Young snagged the award for best boxed or special limited edition package for his elaborately designed box set The Archives, Vol. 1 1963-1972.
The Canadian music legend had also been honoured during the weekend's festivities as the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences' MusiCares person of the year.
Actor Michael J. Fox won the best spoken word album Grammy for Always Looking Up, based on his book Always Looking Up: The Adventures of an Incurable Optimist — which explores his personal philosophy amid an ongoing struggle with Parkinson's disease and stories of other optimists who have triumphed over adversity.
Crooner Michael Bublé was honoured with the award for traditional pop vocal album, for his album Michael Bublé Meets Madison Square Garden.
Canadian acts who failed to win included
rap newcomer Drake, Montreal duo Beast, rock group Nickelback, hit producer David Foster, R&B singer Melanie Fiona and aboriginal singers Northern Cree.
Other pre-telecast highlights included:
•Engineered album, non-classical: Ellipse, by Imogen Heap, who arrived out of breath onstage from having just arrived moments before. The quirky artist turned up clutching a transparent parasol and bearing a sort-of electronic scarf featuring a scrolling Twitter feed.
•Jazz vocal album: Dedicated to You: Kurt Elling sings the music of Coltrane and Hartman, by gala co-host Kurt Elling. The singer noted that it was his first win after nine nominations.
•Remixed Recording: When Love Takes Over, by David Guetta with Kelly Rowland. French D.J. Guetta noted that he received "five nominations, so it means that finally DJ culture and dance music is growing in America... I'm not a real musician, trained. I cannot write music, but I started remixing music and that's how I started making music."
•Traditional folk album: High Wide & Handsome: The Charlie Poole Project, by Loudon Wainwright III, who ended his acceptance speech by thanking his late ex-wife Kate McGarrigle, "who taught me how to frail the banjo 40 years ago." Canadian folk icon McGarrigle, mother of singers Martha and Rufus Wainwright, will be honoured at a memorial in Montreal on Monday.
•Metal Performance: Dissident Aggressor, by Judas Priest. Singer Rob Halford noted that the win came after the five Grammy nominations. "Judas Priest has been making metal for over 35 years... Around the planet, we love what we do."
Taylor Swift reacts to winning the the best female country vocal performance award during the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards' pre-telecast show at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
