Grammy Awards struggle with honoring Houston

LOS ANGELES — The Grammys got underway Sunday as The Recording Academy grappled with the task of paying tribute to one of their fallen greats, Whitney Houston, while at the same time honoring the best in music, from the irreverent to the poignant.

It was a delicate balance. The show started off with Bruce Springsteen, complete with a string section, performing his new song "We Take Care of Our Own," a rousing song that references the troubles of the nation.

But soon after, a somber LL Cool J, the show's host, appeared in black, and told the audience: "There is no way around this. We've had a death in our family."

He then led the audience in prayer to "our fallen sister, Whitney Houston.

"Heavenly father, we thank you for sharing our sister Whitney with us," he said, as celebrities like Lady Gaga and Miranda Lambert bowed their heads in prayer. "Though she is gone too soon, we remain truly blessed to have been touched by her beautiful spirit."

He introduced a clip of a glowing Houston singing one of her best-known songs, "I Will Always Love You." LL Cool said afterward: "Whitney, we will always love you."

In his performance of "Runaway Baby," Bruno Mars also mentioned the death: "Tonight we're celebrating. Tonight we're celebrating the beautiful Miss Whitney Houston."

A tribute to Houston featuring Jennifer Hudson was to take place during the main ceremony.

Houston died on the eve of the Grammys at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, where she was preparing to attend a pre-Grammy party. Before the death of one of pop music's most important figures, the pre-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 led 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.

Still, while Houston's death cast a shadow over the night's winners, it did not obscure them. The Foo Fighters emerged as big winners, capturing five of the six categories they were nominated in, and they still had a chance to win the evening's top award, album of the year.

Frontman Dave Grohl noted that the band made their album, "Wasting Light," in their garage.