Country Conquers 2011 Grammy Awards: Lady Antebellum Wins Big

Country music was the center of attention Sunday at the 53rd Annual Grammy Awards when superstar trio Lady Antebellum snagged five awards, more than any other artist in 2011.
 
The group walked away with the all-genre Grammy for both Song of the Year and Record of the Year in addition to their wins for Country Album, Country Song and Country Performance by a Duo or Group With Vocals.
 
“What an amazing year. We are so blown away,” said Lady A’s Dave Haywood of the group's mega success with “Need You Now.” “We want to thank God, we want to thank our families back in Nashville and Augusta, Ga.”
 
The group, who also performed a medley of their hits during the ceremony, nearly made a complete sweep of the six categories for which they were nominated but narrowly missed the gramophone for Album of the Year, which went to alternative rock group Arcade Fire.
 
Country also helped kick off music’s biggest night when Martina McBride joined Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson and others to pay tribute to the Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin.
 
More country cred followed with Miranda Lambert’s stripped down performance of “The House That Built Me,” for which she also won the Grammy for Best Female Country Performance.
 
“First Grammy performance ever, first Grammy,” said Lambert. “Thank you Tom [Douglas] and Allen [Shamblin] for writing such a beautiful song. Thank you so much for loving the lyrics to this song, because it means the world to me and I know everyone can relate to it. To everyone who's ever inspired me -- a lot of you are in this room -- thank you very much. I love country music.”
 
Keith Urban joined John Mayer and Norah Jones to honor Dolly Parton, winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award Grammy.
 
Urban, Zac Brown Band and Alan Jackson also took home gramophones during the award’s pre-telecast ceremony. Diamond Rio, Marty Stuart, Patty Loveless, Patty Griffin and Ryan Bingham were also early Grammy winners.
 
This year marks the second consecutive year country music has commanded the Grammy Awards telecast. In 2010, Taylor Swift captured four wins, including Album of the Year for “Fearless.”
 
 
A complete list of country winners at the Grammys:
 
Record of the Year
“Need You Now” – Lady Antebellum