With an opening prayer and a moving tribute from Jennifer Hudson, the Grammy Awards played the part of impromptu memorial for Whitney Houston just a day after the six-time Grammy winner was found dead in the bathtub of her Beverly Hills hotel room.
"We've had a death in our family," said host LL Cool J shortly after Bruce Springsteen opened the show by singing, with obvious poignancy, his new single, We Take Care of Our Own.
Cool J led the crowd in a prayer for music's "fallen sister", as the Staples Center crowd bowed their heads. He declared the night one to "celebrate and remember", and played a clip of Houston performing I Will Always Love You from the 1994 Grammys.
Later in the show, following the "in memoriam" segment, Hudson, the actress and former American Idol finalist, performed a tribute to the 48-year-old Houston by singing her hit ballad I Will Always Love You. It was a tender, simple performance that encapsulated the glamour and vocal power Houston embodied.
She sang the last words of the song as: "Whitney, we love you."
Bathed in a solemn spotlight, Hudson performed in a sleek black gown, accompanied only by piano. She received a standing ovation while portraits of music luminaries who died in the past year were lit above her.
That Houston's death came so soon before the CBS broadcast meant "a full-blown tribute" wasn't possible, said Grammy show producer Ken Ehrlich. He turned to Hudson on Saturday evening to hurriedly assemble a performance that Neil Portnow, president of the Recording Academy, said was pulled together in hours of frantic phone calls.
"Musicians, by nature, improvise," said Portnow on the red carpet before the show.
There were numerous nods to Houston throughout the night, including comments from Stevie Wonder ("I just want to say to Whitney up in heaven, we all love you, Whitney Houston") and Rihanna ("Make some noise for Whitney!").
The Grammys were far from alone in honouring Houston. Reaction continued to pour in on social media. BET, MTV and VH1 ran tributes to the singer Sunday.
Oprah Winfrey said she would remember Houston in a two-hour tribute on Thursday on the Oprah Winfrey Network.
