02/11/2013 09:20

Honors Shared Widely At Grammys

Last year's biggest international hit, Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know," has been chosen as 55th Grammy Awards record of the year.

Last year's biggest international hit, Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know," has been chosen as 55th Grammy Awards record of the year. The awards were shared out, with no runaway winners. Gotye's song, which sold more than seven million single tracks, earned one of the major trophies of the night - the prize for record of the year.

The Belgian-Australian singer also picked up the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance for the song which featured New Zealand singer Kimbra, as well as a prize for Best Alternative Music Album.

"We didn't expect to win... There are so many amazing artists and pieces of music... it's a little bit flabbergasting," said Gotye.

New York three-piece band Fun, whose lead singer, Nate Reuss, is pictured above, took the honor of best song with the anthem "We Are Young," as well as securing the best new artist prize.

That award had widely been expected to go to R&B singer Frank Ocean, who had been favored to win the new artist award. "I didn't think we were going to win this one," said Fun lead singer Nate Ruess.

The mood was relatively relaxed as celebrities rolled down the red carpet in the early afternoon under heavy police guard, with security heightened at Los Angeles' Staples Center amid a manhunt for an alleged police killer in the city.

Adele, who dominated last year's Grammys, enjoyed more limited success this year but was still the winner of the Best Pop Solo Performance for "Set Fire to the Rain."

Leading the table in number of honors this year, was Black Keys singer-guitarist Dan Auerbach, with four wins, including Best Rock Album for "El Camino" and Best Rock Song for "Lonely Boy," as well as best producer.

Suprise album winner

However, it was the album "Babel" by British folk rock band Mumford & Sons that won the much-coveted album of the year.

"We figured we weren't going to win anything because The Black Keys have been sweeping up all day, rightfully so," said band member Marcus Mumford.

Other big winners on the night were Skrillex, Jay-Z and Kanye West, who picked up three prizes each.

Ravi Shankar, late sitar virtuoso, won a posthumous award in the world music album category, for "The Living Room Sessions Part 1."

Meanwhile, Colombian pop superstar Juanes took home the award for best Latin pop album for his "MTV Unplugged" album.

rc/pfd (AP, AFP, Reuters)