Harry Styles and Beyonce have claimed the first major prizes of the night at the 65th annual Grammy awards.
The As It Was singer won best pop vocal album for Harry’s House, while Beyonce won best R&B song for Cuff It.
This year’s ceremony is taking place at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles and is being hosted by US comedian Trevor Noah.
Her win means Beyonce has drawn equal with conductor Georg Solti as the most decorated artist at the Grammys, with 31 gongs in total – but she was not present to accept her third award, with Noah assuring the audience she was “on her way”.
She was later handed the award by Noah at her table, who joked she could not have been stopped by traffic as she “travelled through space and time”.
Congrats Best R&B Song winner (A Songwriter(s) Award) – "CUFF IT" – @blu_june, Beyoncé, @msteenamarie, @chi_coney, @thekingdream, @MortenRistorp, @NileRodgers & @RaphaelSaadiq, songwriters (@beyonce) #GRAMMYs pic.twitter.com/qxWx9JAw54
— Recording Academy / GRAMMYs (@RecordingAcad) February 6, 2023
Earlier in the evening she won best dance/electronic recording and best traditional R&B performance.
Styles fended off fellow British talent Adele and Coldplay for best pop vocal album, which was presented by Jennifer Lopez.
“This album from start to finish has been the greatest experience of my life. Thank you so much,” he said, accepting the award.
Best country album went to Willie Nelson for A Beautiful Time.
Fellow country star Shania Twain, wearing a bright red wig, both presented and accepted the award on behalf of the veteran singer, 89, who was absent from the event.
In the opening minutes of the show, Adele was given the chance to meet one of her heroes, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson.
Noah revealed that the unlikely pair were big fans of each other, before making the introduction.
“Adele meet The Rock, The Rock meet Adele,” he said, to laughter from the audience.
A red-faced Adele laughed and embraced Johnson, who appeared behind her to surprise her.
The awards kicked off with an explosive performance by Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny.
Multiple members of the audience got to their feet to dance, including famous faces such as Taylor Swift.
Sunday’s show is due to see Beyonce and Adele reignite their 2017 rivalry, as they go head-to-head for the night’s top awards.
Congrats 👏👏👏 @Harry_Styles pic.twitter.com/FaKledf4He
— Recording Academy / GRAMMYs (@RecordingAcad) February 6, 2023
Both stars are nominated in the three major categories for established artists: album of the year; record of the year; and song of the year, as is Styles.
Beyonce is nominated in nine categories, while rapper and 2022 Glastonbury headliner, Kendrick Lamar, has the second-most nominations with eight.
Adele is nominated in seven categories and Styles in six.
The 65th annual Grammy Awards continues.