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Grammys 2018: Bruno Mars has big night with six wins

The R&B singer won six trophies, including three of the Grammys' top honors: album of the year, record of the year and song of the year.
Recording artist Bruno Mars (C) accepts Album of the Year for '24K Magic' with production team onstage during the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Madison Square Garden on January 28, 2018 in New York City.

With more than a little 24K Magic, Bruno Mars was pure gold at the 60th Academy Awards in New York on Sunday.

During a night full of provocative performances and political displays, the R&B singer won six trophies, including three of the Grammys’ top honors: album of the year (24K Magic), record of the year (24K Magic) and song of the year (That’s What I Like).

The first folks Mars thanked when accepting album of the year? His fellow nominees. “You guys are the reason why I’m in the studio pulling my hair out, man, because I know you guys are only going to come with the top-shelf artistry,” Mars said of Childish Gambino, Lorde, Jay-Z and Kendrick Lamar. “Thank you guys for blessing the world with your music.”

Lamar also had a strong showing, picking up five Grammys including best rap album for Damn. And Alessia Cara won best new artist over the likes of SZA, Khalid, Lil Uzi Vert and Julia Michaels.

Here's a minute-by-minute breakdown of the festivities:

11:04: Mars finishes a big night with album of the year for 24K Magic.

Bruno Mars accepts Album of the Year for '24K Magic' with production team onstage during the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards. (Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for NARAS)

10:48: The "In Memoriam" segment begins with Chris Stapleton and Emmylou Harris doing the late Tom Petty's Wildflowers. And after a rundown of everyone the music industry lost in the last year, ending with Linkin Park's Chester Bennington, Logic, Cara and Khalid perform 1-800-273-8255. Logic finished with the political mic drop of the night: "For those who fight for equality in a world that is not equal, not just and not ready for the change we are here to bring, I say unto you: Bring us your tired, your poor and any immigrant who seeks refuge. For together, we can build not just a better country but a world that is destined to be united."

10:35: Mars' 24K Magic wins record of the year. "Look at me, Pop, I'm at the Grammys right now!" he says after tying Kendrick Lamar with five honors for the night.

10:30: SZA embraces '70s chic and disco-era guitar riffs for the soulful Broken Clocks.

10:13: With the Grammys in New York, of course there's a Broadway tribute. Dear Evan Hansen star (and Pitch Perfect alum) Ben Platt croons Somewhere from Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story, followed by a salute to Andrew Lloyd Webber in the form of Patti LuPone tackling Evita showstopper Don't Cry for Me Argentina.

10:03: In one of the evening's stranger teamups, the retiring Elton John duets with Miley Cyrus on Tiny Dancer.

Sir Elton John (L) and Miley Cyrus perform onstage during the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards. (Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for NARAS)

10:02: Host James Corden does a bit with celebrities like DJ Khaled and Cardi B doing spoken-word narration of the Trump book Fire and Fury. The most cheers go to an appearance by Hillary Clinton. "Is the Grammy in the bag?" she says excitedly.

9:58: Mars' That's What I Like gets song of the year — his fourth Grammy of the night. "Fellas, it's an honor to share this with y'all tonight," Mars says to his co-writing crew. "These are my brothers."

9:45: U2 takes a stage set up along the Hudson River, with the Statue of Liberty in the background, to play Get Out of Your Own Way.

9:36: Janelle Monae introduces a performance for the Time's Up movement with a warning: "We come in peace, but we mean business." She calls for a united music industry with women and men before bringing out Kesha to sing her hit Praying with a singers including Cyndi Lauper and Camila Cabello. Kesha hits a wide range of emotions, from tearful to raging, before getting a group hug at the end.

Kesha performs with (L-R) Bebe Rexha, Cyndi Lauper, Camila Cabello, Andra Day, Julia Michaels, and chorus members onstage during the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards. (Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for NARAS)

9:26: Dedicating their performance to victims of the terrorist attacks in Manchester and Las Vegas, Maren Morris, Brothers Osbourne and Eric Church do a countrified and acoustic take on Tears in Heaven.

9:23: Chris Stapleton, fresh off an SNL appearance, snags best country album for From a Room: Volume 1. "This is a wonderful room to be in," Stapleton says. "We always try to make good records and this is a testament to this."

9:13: Palm trees and backup dancers with old-school flapper hairdos give Rihanna, DJ Khaled and Bryson Tiller's performance of Wild Thoughts an oddly mesmerizing vibe.

9:01: Sting sings Englishman in New York, which is ridiculously literal given the circumstances and Grammys' home this year. Shaggy shows up to make the thing 1,000 times cooler — and to add, "I'm a Jamaican in New York."

8:59: Third time on stage is a charm for Dave Chappelle, who wins best comedy album for The Age Of Spin & Deep In The Heart Of Texas. "I am honored to win an award. Finally," he deadpans.

Comedian Dave Chappelle accepts Best Comedy Album for 'The Age of Spin'/'Deep in the Heart of Texas' onstage during the 60th Annual GRAMMY Awards at Madison Square Garden on January 28, 2018 in New York City.

8:54: Cardi B and Mars are out with colorful duds and dance moves for Finesse. It should be noted Mars is aces at the "Running Man" in this wholly retro affair.

8:51: Corden does a subway spin on his Carpool Karaoke bits with him, Sting and Shaggy doing Every Breath You Take and It Wasn't Me — and annoying onlookers. One old lady wins the day: "I don't want to be on your stupid YouTube video!"

8:42: Pink comes out, with sign-language interpreter in tow, to perform a powerful version of Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken.

8:38: Chappelle's back out to present best rap album, which goes to Kendrick Lamar's Damn. "This is special, man," Lamar says, accepting his fifth Grammy of the night. Hip-hop taught him how to be an artist, he adds. "It's really about expressing yourself and putting that paint on the canvas for the world to evolve for the next listener and the next generation after that."

8:27: Childish Gambino, aka a very dapper Donald Glover, enthralls the audience with a very groovy rendition of Terrified.

Childish Gambino performs during the 60th Annual Grammy Awards show on January 28, 2018, in New York. (Photo: TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP/Getty Images)

8:22: Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee saunter out to perform the wildly popular Despacito alongside twerking dancers, bongo drummers and a grooving John Legend and Chrissy Teigen in the crowd.

8:15: Best pop solo performance goes to Ed Sheeran's Shape of You, though Sheeran's not there to accept the honor.

8:12: Gary Clark Jr. and Jon Batiste team up for a tribute to Fats Domino and Chuck Berry, with Batiste tinkling ivories for Ain't That a Shame and Clark getting in some great guitar riffs on Maybelline.

8:03: Country group Little Big Town performs Better Man with the wind machines on full blast.

7:59: Alessia Cara takes one of the biggest prizes of the night, best new artist. "Holy cow. I've been pretend-winning Grammys since I was a kid, like in my shower, so you'd think I'd have the speech thing down but I absolutely don't," Cara says, paying tribute to her fans. "You guys are the reason why I don't have to win Grammys in my shower anymore."

7:54: Clad all in white, Sam Smith has a full chorus out to help him do Pray. He's feeling the gospel truth tonight, folks.

7:46: Lamar picks up No. 4 for the day, winning best rap/sung performance for Loyalty. "This is love, I appreciate every single last one of y'all," Lamar says, thanking his collaborator Rihanna (who happens to be the one presenting him the award): "She gassed me on my own songs. This really belongs to her, real talk."

7:39: Host Corden arrives just time to present Lady Gaga's performance: a stripped-down rendition of Joanne on a feathery piano. She dedicates the stirring tune to her father's late sister as well as to "love and compassion even when you can't understand," and then transitions into her hit Million Reasons.

Show host James Corden performs during the 60th Annual Grammy Awards show on January 28, 2018, in New York.

7:30: Lamar opens the show with a flag waving in the background and hooded soldiers marching with his song XXX. U2 then joins Lamar for DNA, before kicking to Dave Chappelle for a few words: "The only thing more frightening than watching a black man be honest in America is being an honest black man in America."

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