Now Hear This: Notable Quotables From The Grammys

Quotes from Sunday’s 54th annual Grammy Awards:

“There is no way around this. We’ve had a death in our family, and so at least for me, the only thing that feels right is to begin with a prayer for a woman we love, for our fallen sister, Whitney Houston.” — Grammy host LL Cool J before leading a prayer for Houston, who passed away Saturday.

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“Long live Whitney Houston, long live Amy Winehouse, long live Etta James. What can I say? There’s a beautiful girl band up in heaven.” Amy Winehouse’s father, Mitch Winehouse, whom Tony Bennett invited on stage when accepting the Grammy for best pop performance by a duo or group for his duet with Amy Winehouse, “Body and Soul.”

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“Good singing is good singing. I’m a child of the ‘80s and she was the soundtrack to my adolescence. … The way she used the words and the way her heart spilled out of her … it was infectious and it was captivating every time. … She was larger than life and the summation of good singing for me.” Grammy winner and opera singer Joyce DiDonato on Houston.

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“I just want to say to Whitney up in heaven: We all love you, Whitney Houston.” Stevie Wonder from the stage before introducing Paul McCartney.

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“There’s really no feeling quite like writing a song about someone who’s completely mean to you and completely hates you and then winning a Grammy for it,” Taylor Swift, accepting the award for country solo vocal performance for “Mean,” her rebuttal to unnamed critics (and perhaps Bob Lefsetz) who have picked on previous performances.

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“To me this award means a lot because it shows that the human element of making music is what’s most important. Singing into a microphone and learning to play an instrument and learning to do your craft, that’s the most important thing for people to do. It’s not about being perfect. It’s not about sounding absolutely correct. It’s not about what goes on in a computer. It’s about what goes on in here (your heart) and what goes on here (your head). … Long live rock ‘n’ roll!” Dave Grohl after Foo Fighters won their fifth Grammy, best rock performance for “Walk.”

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“I also want to say thank you to all the voters, of course. Sweet. Sweet hookup.” Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon accepting best new artist award.

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“I’m a human bakery at the moment,” an expectant Joy Williams said backstage after winning two Grammys as half of the duo The Civil Wars.

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“And seeing as it’s a vocal performance, I need to thank my doctors, I suppose, who brought my voice back.” Adele on stage after winning best pop solo performance for “Someone Like You.”

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“This record is inspired by something that’s really normal and everyone’s been through it, just a rubbish relationship. And it’s gone on to do things I can’t tell you how I feel about it. It’s been the most life-changing year.” Adele after winning album of the year for “21.”

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“Oh, a little bit of snot.” Adele joking with the crowd after wiping her nose during her emotional album of the year acceptance speech.