It was all about the ladies during this years Grammy Awards with Lady Gaga riding high in the pop stakes and Lady Antebellum flying the flag for country music.

Lady Gaga showed off her eccentric side by being carried down the red carpet in a giant egg but while her outlandish costume choices may have turned heads it was her three awards that will cement her place in the pop history books.

Gaga came away from the ceremony held in Los Angeles at the Staples Center with the awards for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for “Bad Romance” and Best Pop Vocal Album for “The Fame Monster”.

The country three piece, Lady Antebellum were big winners on the night with five awards including Song of the Year for their hit “Need You Now.”

While some of the recipients of the golden gramophone were expected there were some big losers on the evening including Justin Bieber who lost out to jazz singer Esperanza Spalding in the Best New Artist category.

The jazz singer, the first jazz artist ever to pick up the prize, beat teen sensation Bieber and the other hot tip for the top, Drake and British newcomers Florence and the Machine.

While audiences were gripped by the winners and losers the Grammys is renowned for it crazy musical collaborations, often unexpected and inspiring and this year was no different.

The opening performance of the night was a tribute to musical legend and the queen of soul, Aretha Franklin.

Christina Aguilera, Florence Welch, Jennifer Hudson, Martina McBride and Yolanda Adams all took to the stage to honour the star who is currently recovering fro an operation.

Other notable performances of the evening included Lady Gaga who performed her new single “Born This Way”, emerging from her egg for a Madonna-esque performance while Mick Jagger, who was performing at the awards show for the first time in his career, earned a standing ovation for his version of “Everybody Needs Somebody To Love” in tribute to Solomon Burke.