LOS ANGELES, CA — It was the year of the woman at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards Show with women taking home the awards for Best New Artist, Album of the Year, Best Rap Album, and Best R&B Album. Both Women and hip-hop artists broke new ground Sunday with Childish Gambino becoming the first rapper to win Song Of The Year and Cardi being the first female solo rapper to win for Best Rap Album.

After a brief foray to New York, “Music’s Biggest Night” returned to downtown Los Angeles Sunday evening with the 61st Grammy Awards at Staples Center. All eyes were on the Staples Center to see who showed up after a contentious lead up to the awards ceremony and who took home music’s biggest honor.

The show got underway Sunday with a high-energy opening number featuring Camila Cabello, Ricky Martin, J Balvin, Arturo Sandoval and Young Thug. Following the opening number, host Alicia Keys surprised the crowd with a lineup of high-profile women — including Michelle Obama, Lady Gaga, Jada Pinkett Smith and Jennifer Lopez — holding hands and sharing inspirational stories of what music has done for them.

The first big winners of the night were Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper who won Best Pop Duo Performance for “Shallow.”

“I wish Bradley was here with me right now,” Gaga said as she accepted the award on behalf of the pair. “… Bradley, I loved singing this song with you. And if I don’t get another chance to say this, I just want to say I’m so proud to be part of a movie that addresses mental health issues. They’re so important. A lot of artists deal with that and we’ve got to take care of each other.”

On a night when women loomed large both for their forceful performances and for their sheer volume of nominations, Kacey Musgraves continued the trend, taking home the Grammy for Best Country Album.

“I never dreamed that this record would be met with such love, such warmth, such positivity. It seriously means the world to me,” she said. “I love country music with everything that I am, and I am very proud to get to be able to share my version of that with the world.”

As women continued to dominate the show, Cardi B became only the second woman ever to win the Grammy for Best Rap Album, behind Lauryn Hill who won in 1997 with the Fugees. She is the first female solo headliner to take home the honor, however.

Visibly shaken, Cardi B brought her husband onto the stage with her and told how she made the album while working around the challenge posed by her pregnancy.

English singer-songwriter Dua Lipa was named best new artist — chosen from an eight-nominee field that included six women.

“I guess this year we’ve really stepped up,” she said in a poke at outgoing Recording Academy President Neil Portnow. Portnow came under fire last year amid criticism about the lack of female representation in top Grammy categories when he suggested that female performers need to “step up.”

Childish Gambino, who pointedly did not attend the ceremony after voicing frustration with the Grammy diversity problem, won both the Song of the Year and Record of the Year honors for “This Is America.”

Clouds gathered over the event literally and figuratively. Rain soaked the red carpet, and several top artists including Childish Gambino spurned invitations to perform at the show amid criticism of treatment of hip-hop artists, who are frequently nominated for top honors but infrequently win. With hours to go before the show, it was unclear if some of the top hip-hop nominees would even show.

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Top contenders of the night included Kendrick Lamar, Drake, and Brandi Carlile, who were all three up for album, record and song of the year. The three top categories were expanded this year to allow for more diversity including more female nominees. Indeed, women were five of the eight nominees for album of the year, and six female acts were nominated for best new artist.

Still, criticism of the Grammy’s diversity problem peaked in the days leading up to the ceremony. Lamar and Drake along with Ariana Grande all declined to perform at the show, vocalizing their frustration with their treatment. Lamar wasn’t spotted at the show. He had a leading eight nominations heading into the show, but collected only one — for best rap performance for “King’s Dead.”

Drake addressed the controversy directly in accepting the award for Best Rap Song.

“I definitely did not think I was winning anything,” Drake told the crowd. “I want to take this opportunity while I am up here to just talk to all the kids who are watching this, who are aspiring to do music, to all my peers who make music from their heart and do things pure and tell the truth. I want to let you know we’re playing an opinion-based sport, not a factual based sport. So, it’s not the NBA where at the end of the year you’re holding a trophy because you made the right decisions or won the games.

“This is a business, where sometimes it’s up to a bunch of people that might not understand, you know, what a mixed-race kid from Canada has to say or a fly Spanish girl from New York or anybody else, or a brother from Houston,” he added. “But the point is you’ve already won if you have people who are singing your songs word-for-word, if you’re a hero in your hometown, if there are people who have regular jobs who are coming out in the rain or the snow spending their hard-earned money to buy tickets to come to your shows. You don’t need this right here. I promise you, you already won.”

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Grammy ceremony producer Ken Ehrlich told The New York Times last week, he understood the complaints.

“The fact of the matter is, we continue to have a problem in the hip-hop world,” he said. “When they don’t take home the big prize, the regard of the (Recording Academy), and what the Grammys represent, continues to be less meaningful to the hip-hop community.”

Despite the rancor, the Grammys still featured a star-studded lineup of performers, including Lady Gaga, Dua Lipa, Travis Scott, Mark Ronson, Camila Cabello, Cardi B, Dan + Shay, Little Big Town, Katy Perry, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Diana Ross and Dolly Parton. The show also included an Aretha Franklin tribute by Andra Day, Yolanda Adams and Fantasia.

One of the more emotional Grammy moments occurred during the pre-telecast portion of the awards ceremony, when Chris Cornell — who died by suicide in May 2017 — posthumously won the award for best rock performance for “When Bad Does Good.” His two youngest children, 14-year-old daughter, Toni, and 13-year-old son, Christopher, accepted the award on behalf of their father.

Also among the award winners in the pre-telecast ceremony was former President Jimmy Carter, who won for best spoken-word album for “Faith — A Journey For All.” It was Carter’s third career win in the category, making him the biggest Grammy winner among former presidents. Bill Clinton and Barack Obama both won twice in the category.

The Grammys recognized recordings released between Oct. 1, 2017, and Sept. 30, 2018.

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Grammy Award Winners:

Here is a list of winners of the 61st Grammy Awards that were presented Sunday afternoon during the pre-telecast ceremony at the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles. The balance of the awards will presented during the telecast ceremony at Staples Center, beginning at 5 p.m.:

This year’s nominees include:

Record Of The Year:

Album Of The Year:

Song Of The Year:

Best New Artist:

Best Pop Solo Performance:

Best Pop Duo/Group Performance:

Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album:

Best Pop Vocal Album:

Best Dance Recording:

Best Dance/Electronic Album:

Best Contemporary Instrumental Album:

Best Rock Performance:

Best Metal Performance:

Best Rock Song:

Best Rock Album:

Best Alternative Music Album:

Best R&B Performance:

Best Traditional R&B Performance:

Best R&B Song:

Best Urban Contemporary Album:

Best R&B Album:

Best Rap Performance:

Best Rap/Sung Performance:

Best Rap Song:

Best Rap Album:

Best Country Solo Performance:

Best Country Duo/Group Performance:

Best Country Song:

Best Country Album:

Best New Age Album:

Best Improvised Jazz Solo:

Best Jazz Vocal Album:

Best Jazz Instrumental Album:

Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album:

Best Latin Jazz Album:

Best Gospel Performance/Song:

Best Contemporary Christian Music Performance/Song:

Best Gospel Album:

Best Contemporary Christian Music Album:

Best Roots Gospel Album:

Best Latin Pop Album:

Best Latin Rock, Urban or Alternative Album:

Best Regional Mexican Music Album (Including Tejano):

Best Tropical Latin Album:

Best American Roots Performance:

Best American Roots Song:

Best Americana Album:

Best Bluegrass Album:

Best Traditional Blues Album:

Best Contemporary Blues Album:

Best Folk Album:

Best Regional Roots Music Album:

Best Reggae Album:

Best World Music Album:

Best Children’s Album:

Best Spoken Word Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books & Storytelling):

Best Comedy Album:

Best Musical Theater Album:

Best Compilation Soundtrack For Visual Media:

Best Score Soundtrack For Visual Media:

Best Song Written For Visual Media:

Best Instrumental Composition:

Best Arrangement, Instrumental or A Cappella:

Best Arrangement, Instruments and Vocals:

Best Recording Package:

Best Boxed Or Special Limited Edition Package:

Best Album Notes:

Best Historical Album:

Best Engineered Album, Non-Classical:

Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical:

Best Remixed Recording:

Best Immersive Audio Album:

Best Engineered Album, Classical:

Producer Of The Year, Classical:

Best Orchestral Performance:

Best Opera Recording:

Best Choral Performance:

Best Chamber Music/Small Ensemble Performance:

Best Classical Instrumental Solo:

Best Classical Solo Vocal Album:

Best Classical Compendium:

Best Contemporary Classical Composition:

Best Music Video:

Best Music Film:

City News service and Patch Staffer contributed to this report. Photo: Camila Cabello, center, performs “Havana” at the 61st annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 10, 2019, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP)