LOS ANGELES (AP) - With the death of Whitney
Houston just hours earlier, it's hard to focus on the matter of crowning
the best in recorded music - but Sunday night's Grammy Awards are going
to try.
Music's biggest night was
rocked on the eve of the event with news that the 48-year-old pop legend
was found dead in her room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where she was
preparing to attend a pre-Grammy party.
Speculation over this
year's Grammy favorites seemed secondary in the wake of her death.
Still, the show will go on, with a musical tribute to Houston by one of
her biggest fans, Jennifer Hudson.
Before the death of one of
pop music's most important figures, the Grammy buzz focused on whether
Adele - 2011's top-selling artist and set to make her first public
performance on the show since having vocal cord surgery - would be the
queen of the Grammys. Although Kanye West leads all nominees with seven
and Bruno Mars and the Foo Fighters tied Adele with six nominations, she
was favored to sweep all of her categories.
But as show time neared, the focus remained on Houston's death.
Grammy show producer Ken
Ehrlich was quick to announce Hudson's tribute. "It's too fresh in
everyone's memory to do more at this time," he said late Saturday, "but
we would be remiss if we didn't recognize Whitney's remarkable
contribution to music fans in general, and in particular her close ties
with the Grammy telecast and her Grammy wins and nominations over the
years."
More Houston tributes from
nominees and presenters are expected during the three-and-a-half hour
Staples Center show, which was to feature the Foo Fighters, Mars, Nicki
Minaj, Bruce Springsteen, Paul McCartney, Taylor Swift, Chris Brown and
Rihanna.
It will mark the first time
Rihanna and Brown have appeared at the same awards show since his
attack on her three years ago - also on the eve of the Grammys - forced
both to drop out of the show and led to an assault conviction for Brown.
It almost derailed his career, but 2011 marked a huge comeback, and he
was rewarded with a Grammy performance slot on Sunday night's CBS
broadcast.
Rihanna is also a nominee,
up for album of the year. She is competing with Adele's "21," Mars'
"Doo-Woops & Hooligans," the Foo Fighters "Wasting Light" and Lady
Gaga's "Born This Way."
Adele's "Rolling in the
Deep" is nominated for record and song of the year. Both categories also
include Bon Iver's "Holocene," Mumford & Sons "The Cave," and Mars'
"Grenade." Katy Perry's "Firework" is up for record of the year but
instead of that song, West's "All of the Lights" takes the remaining
position in the song of the year category.
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2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not
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