Robert Plant and Alison Krauss took home a leading five trophies to top the 51st Annual Grammy Awards Sunday night, including Album of the Year for "Raising Sand."

Winners: Plant | Adele | Coldplay | Hudson

The former Led Zeppelin frontman and bluegrass singer beat out Lil Wayne, Ne-Yo, Coldplay, and Radiohead for the coveted trophy.

Krause and Plant also won for Record of the Year for "Please Read the Letter."

Plant said that "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."

Coldplay took home the night's other top Grammy -- Song of the Year -- for "Viva La Vida."

A tearful Jennifer Hudson also took her first-ever Grammy, for Best R&B Album for her debut.

"I want to thank my family in heaven and those who are with me today," said Hudson, accepting the award from Whitney Houston.

The singer and Oscar-winning actress had released the album just weeks before her mother, brother and nephew were killed in Chicago.

While Hudson's emotion was front and center, drama unfolded behind the scenes when police said just 90 minutes before the show began that they were investigating nominee Chris Brown for allegedly attacking an unidentified woman. He was a no-show for Sunday night's Grammy Awards.

Some rumor mills said the woman was his longtime girlfriend, Rihanna, but neither police nor representatives to the singers gave any official details on the incident or the victim. Police interviewed Brown and briefly detained him. He posted $50,000 bail and was released.

Then, minutes before U2 opened the telecast, the Recording Academy said Rihanna, Brown's longtime girlfriend, had scratched her performance.

Other big winners included Adele for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, and John Mayer for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance for "Say."

Jay-Z and T.I. featuring Kanye West and Lil' Wayne, for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "Swagga Like Us."

Lil' Wayne, who led all nominees going into the ceremony with eight nods, also won a Grammy for Best Rap Album for "Tha Carter III." The rapper, who performed near the end of the Grammy telecast, took home four trophies total.

The night included several performances by classic artists, who in some cases were joined by today's stars.

Justin Timberlake performed with Al Green, while Foo Fighter Dave Grohl played drums for Paul McCartney for a rendition of The Beatles' hit "I Saw Her Standing There."

Legendary singer Neil Diamond also took stage to sing his hit "Sweet Caroline."