LOS ANGELES — Robert Plant and Alison Krauss' unorthodox partnership yielded rich rewards on Grammy night, as the pair nabbed five Grammys for their haunting CD "Raising Sand," including record and album of the year.

As the broadcast was taking place, another Grammy nominee, teen heartthrob Chris Brown, was taken into police custody for an alleged felony assault on an unidentified woman the night before. Brown and longtime girlfriend Rihanna, also nominated, were both slated to perform, but separately dropped out at the last minute.

Lil Wayne entered with the most nominations, eight, and ended the night with four Grammys, including rap album of the year.

British singer Adele was teary as she beat the Jonas Brothers, Lady Antebellum, Jazmine Sullivan and fellow Brit singer Duffy to nab best new artist. It was her second award of the evening.

But it was Jennifer Hudson who provided the night's most emotional moments onstage. The Oscar winner took her first Grammy award — for best R&B album — for her self-titled debut.

Hudson, 27, made no direct reference to the October killings of her mother, brother and nephew that kept her in seclusion until just this month. But while fighting back tears, she made it clear that her family was foremost on her mind.

"I first would like to thank God who has brought me through," she said. "I would like to thank my family in heaven and those who are with me today."

Hudson later performed "You Pulled Me Through," a dramatic song about overcoming deep despair, with the lyrics: "When I was drowning, when I was so confused, you, you pulled me through." As she sang the last note, she looked directly into the camera and dissolved into tears once again.

There were no tears as Krauss and Plant accepted their awards for their emotion-rich CD, "Raising Sand."

The pairing of the former Led Zeppelin rocker and Krauss, a bluegrass queen, may have seemed downright weird on paper, but the T Bone Burnett-produced album was universally acclaimed and highlighted Krauss' unique talent of mastering different musical styles. Krauss is the most decorated female artist in Grammy history.

Plant said "Please Read The Letter" was "an old song that me and Jimmy Page wrote together post Led Zeppelin, and it's been given that Nashville touch, and it feels pretty good."

The Grammy telecast was filled with eye-popping and eyebrow-raising performances, from Radiohead's collaboration with a college marching band to a televised black-and-white throwback performance from Jay-Z, T.I., Lil Wayne, Kanye West and a (very) pregnant M.I.A.

But the absences of Brown and Rihanna put a huge hole in the Grammy telecast. Rihanna was supposed to sing "Live Your Life/Disturbia" as the second performance of the night, Brown was later to sing "Forever." Each was nominated in the pop collaboration with vocals category, Brown for "No Air" with "American Idol" champion Jordin Sparks; and Rihanna for "If I Never See Your Face Again" with Maroon 5. Brown was also nominated for male R&B vocal performance for "Take You Down."

Neither won a Grammy on Sunday, and the Recording Academy found able replacements for their performance slots in Justin Timberlake, Al Green, Boyz II Men and Keith Urban as they all sang Green's classic hit, "Let's Stay Together." No mention was made on TV about the switch.

With all the drama onstage and behind the scenes, the awards seemed almost like an afterthought — but the show went on.

Lil Wayne won the first Grammys of his career for "Tha Carter III," which took the 26-year-old rap veteran from rap to pop MVP. Coldplay won three, including song of the year for "Viva La Vida."