French DJ Duo Daft Punk, teenage Lorde take top Grammys

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French electronic music DJs Daft Punk and New Zealand teen Lorde took home the top Grammy awards on Sunday night. The quirky robotic duo, Daft Punk, scored the double win of album of the year for "Random Access Memories," and record of the year with the summer dance hit "Get Lucky," featuring Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers.

"When I was drinking years ago, I used to imagine things that weren't there were frightening. Then I got sober and two robots called me and asked me to make an album," quipped Paul Williams, one of the featured artists in "Random Access Memories."

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Formed in the early 1990s by French DJs Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, Daft Punk were pioneers of the electronic dance music phenomenon that has recently swept the US mainstream pop industry.

Lorde, 17, won the Grammy for song of the year with her breakout hit "Royals," sharing the award for songwriters with Joel Little. They triumphed over the writers behind Katy Perry's "Roar" and Bruno Mars' "Locked Out of Heaven," among others.

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The music industry's glamorous gathering also saw the two surviving Beatles, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, come together for a rare joint performance coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the British group's breakthrough on American television.

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With McCartney at the piano and Starr at his drums, the two played a new song, "Queenie Eye," a catchy tune that hearkened back to the Beatles' trademark hits. It was only the fourth time they had performed together on stage since a 2002 concert to honor the late George Harrison. John Lennon's widow, Yoko Ono, and son Sean Lennon were in the crowd dancing along on Sunday.

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The Recording Academy also anointed Seattle-based rapper-producer newcomers Macklemore & Ryan Lewis with the Grammy for best new artist. 

"Before there was any

media, before there was any buzz about us, before there was a story, there was our fans and it spread organically through them," said Macklemore, whose real name is Ben Haggerty, as he accepted the best new artist award for the duo.

In keeping with the newcomer trend, Kacey Musgraves won best country album with "Same Trailer Different Park."

Kicking off the three-and-a-half-hour show, Beyonce and rapper husband Jay Z sang "Drunk in Love," her first public performance since her surprise self-titled album in December, a game-changer in the music industry for its stealth release.

Madonna emerged in a white suit and cowboy hat to conclude the singing ceremony with "Open Your Heart."

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The 56th Grammy Awards, the music industry's top honors handed out by the Recording Academy across 82 categories, may be remembered more for its performances and unscripted moments than the awards that are bestowed.

Daft Punk, Zeppelin win early awards at Grammys

Music's top stars hit the red carpet Sunday for the Grammys, with veteran rapper Jay-Z leading nominations but a host of younger acts hoping for glory on the industry's biggest night.

French electro duo Daft Punk were among early winners, taking the prizes for best dance/electronica album and sound engineering in a pre-show segment before the three-hour telecast starting from 5:00 pm (0100 GMT).

Older acts were also up for honors at music's version of the Oscars, among them the Rolling Stones, Black Sabbath and the Beatles, whose surviving members were due to perform.

Led Zeppelin won best rock album for "Celebration Day," recorded at their 2007 live reunion show at London's O2 Arena, in the pre-telecast section of the show, while the Gipsy Kings and South Africa's Ladysmith Black Mambazo shared the world music Grammy.

Rapper Kendrick Lamar, pop diva Taylor Swift, chart-topper Justin Timberlake and Seattle hip hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis are also among those vying for prizes at the show in Los Angeles.

The show was set to feature some eye-popping collaborations, including rockers Metallica with acclaimed Chinese pianist Lang Lang and Lamar with rock group Imagine Dragons.

In another likely spectacular moment, 34 couples were expected to marry during Macklemore & Ryan Lewis's performance of their song "Same Love," which uses rap to tackle the issue of same-sex marriage, according to media reports.

Surviving Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr were due to perform as Recording Academy organizers belatedly bestow a Lifetime Achievement Award on the Fab Four.

Performers at the awards show include a who's who of music's finest, ranging from Katy Perry and Robin Thicke to veterans Carole King, Chicago and Madonna.

The first couple of hip-hop, Jay-Z and Beyonce, are also expected to perform at the show, brought forward from its usual February date to avoid media conflicts with the Sochi Winter Olympics.

Many of the stars turned out Saturday night for legendary music producer Clive Davis's annual pre-Grammys party at the Beverly Hilton hotel - where pop icon Whitney Houston died in her hotel bathroom on the eve of the 2012 show.

Going into Sunday's show, Jay-Z scored the most nominations with nine nods, followed by California hip-hop star Lamar, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Timberlake and Pharrell Williams with seven each, while Canadian rapper Drake scored five. Tipped by many for coveted Record Of The Year was Daft Punk's "Get Lucky," but rival nominees include Kiwi teenager Lorde's "Royals," "Radioactive" by Imagine Dragons and Hawaiian crooner Bruno Mars's "Locked Out Of Heaven."

Thicke's "Blurred Lines," made infamous by Miley Cyrus's twerking at last year's MTV Video Music Awards show, is also competing for the evening's top prize.

In the Album of the Year category, Swift's "Red" will compete with Daft Punk's "Random Access Memories," Macklemore & Ryan Lewis's "The Heist," Lamar's "Good Kid, M.A.A.D City" and Sara Bareilles's "The Blessed Unrest."

Shortlisted for Song of the Year - for songwriters - were "Just Give Me A Reason" sung by Pink, "Locked Out Of Heaven" sung by Mars, "Roar" sung by Perry, "Royals" sung by Lorde and "Same Love" sung by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis.

Macklemore & Ryan Lewis was also nominated for Best New Artist, against Lamar, country singer Kacey Musgraves and British singer-songwriters James Blake and Ed Sheeran. Among older stars, Best Rock Song contenders included "God is Dead?" by Black Sabbath, "Doom and Gloom" by the Rolling Stones and  "Cut Me Some Slack" by McCartney with surviving members of grunge icons Nirvana. The Grammys show, at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, will climax with a rock supergroup featuring Nine Inch Nails, Queens of the Stone Age, Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl and Fleetwood Mac's Lindsey Buckingham.