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Jeff Beck was the most successful of the veteran artists at this year’s Grammys, winning three awards last night. There were also wins for Paul McCartney, Neil Young, Buddy Guy and Mavis Staples. Country group Lady Antebellum were the big winners, picking up five awards for “Need You Now”, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year. Album of the Year went to Arcade Fire for “The Suburbs” which had lost out to The Black Keys’ “Brothers” in the Best Alternative Music Album category.

Jay-Z was another big winner with three awards, including Best Rap Song and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for “Empire State of Mind.” Lady Gaga won Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “Bad Romance” and Best Pop Vocal Album for “The Fame Monster.” Her “Bad Romance” video also won in the Best Short Form Music Video category, beating Johnny Cash’s “Ain’t No Grave/The Johnny Cash Project” from the album “American VI: Ain’t No Grave.” Lady Gaga quite bizarrelly arrived at the event inside a giant egg which was carried down the red carpet by several attendants. I’ll let you decide whether this was tedious and gimmicky or a great artistic statement.

Jeff Beck had received five nominations and won in the following three categories:

• Best Pop Instrumental Performance – “Nessun Dorma”
• Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals – “Imagine” from “The Imagine Project” (nominated with Herbie Hancock, Pink, India.Arie, Seal, Konono No 1 and Oumou Sangare)
• Best Rock Instrumental Performance – “Hammerhead” from “Emotion & Commotion.”

Paul McCartney won Best Solo Rock Vocal for a live version of “Helter Skelter” from his album “Good Evening New York City.” This was McCartney’s first solo Grammy in 39 years. The category was dominated by veteran artists, namely Eric Clapton for “Run Back to Your Side”, Neil Young for “Angry World” and Robert Plant for “Silver Rider.” Plant was also out of luck in the Best Americana Album category, with his critically-acclaimed “Band Of Joy” eclipsed by Mavis Staples’ “You Are Not Alone.” Young had more success, with his “Angry World” winning Best Rock Song. Neil Young had never before won a Grammy for a musical performance.

Best Historical Album went to “The Beatles (The Original Studio Recordings)” mono set, which did well to beat out the excellent Buddy Holly box set “Not Fade Away: The Complete Studio Recordings and More.“

Buddy Guy won the Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album for “Living Proof” in a category that included the late Solomon Burke. Burke was not forgotten during the ceremony though. Mick Jagger paid tribute to the soul legend by singing his classic “Everybody Needs Somebody to Love.” The Rolling Stones had covered the song in 1965 on their second UK album “The Rolling Stones No. 2.”

Michael Jackson received a Best Male Pop Vocal Performance nomination for “This Is It” but lost out to Bruno Mars for “Just The Way You Are.”

The Doors documentary, “When You’re Strange”, picked up the award for Best Long Form Music Video. The competition had included the popular “Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage.”

Folk legend Pete Seeger, aged 91, won Best Musical Album For Children for “Tomorrow’s Children.” He was not the most senior of the winners though as Pinetop Perkins, aged 97, won the Best Traditional Blues Album award for “Joined At The Hip.”

There were also lifetime achievement awards for Dolly Parton, Julie Andrews, Roy Haynes, the Juilliard String Quartet, the Kingston Trio, the Ramones and George Beverly Shea. Julie Andrews also won the Best Spoken Word Album For Children award for “Julie Andrews’ Collection Of Poems, Songs, And Lullabies.”

As usual, there was an eclectic mix of performances during the Grammys ceremony, with all five Album of the Year and Best New Artist nominees performing, including Arcade Fire, Eminem (with Dr Dre), Lady Antebellum, Lady Gaga, Kate Perry, Esperanza Spalding, Justin Bieber (with Usher and Jaden Smith), Drake, Florence + the Machine, and Mumford & Sons. The latter category was won by jazz artists Esperanza Spalding, not the hugely popular Bieber.

Yolanda Adams, Christina Aguilera, Jennifer Hudson, Martina McBride and Florence Welch sang a special tribute to Aretha Franklin – described as a “get well card” by the producer – which closed with a high-powered singalong on “Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves.” A more subtle performance was delivered by Norah Jones, Keith Urban and John Mayer who sang “Jolene” in tribute to Dolly Parton.

There were also appearances from Bob Dylan, who played harmonica with Best New Artist nominee Mumford & Sons, and from Barbra Streisand, who sang her 1976 classic “Evergreen.” Streisand was this year’s recipient of the MusiCares Person of the Year award, which recognised her accomplishments as an artist and humanitarian.

Click here to view the complete list of Grammy Award winners.