New York, Jan. 29 (Xinhua) -- Coming back to the New York City, the 60th Grammy Awards concluded on Sunday night with surprises and highlights that can be fodder for casual chatting across the metroplitan for the coming days.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a surprise appearance at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards Sunday during a reading of the best selling book "Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House" which details U.S. President Donald Trump's first year in the White House.
"He had a longtime fear of being poisoned - one reason why he liked to eat at McDonald's. No one knew he was coming and the food was safely pre-made," read Clinton, the 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, in a pre-taped segment for the Grammys awarding ceremony held at Madison Square Garden.
Following her reading, Grammys host James Corden entered the scene, exclaiming, "That's it -- that's the one!"
"You think so?" Clinton replied. "The Grammy's in the bag?"
"In the bag!" Corden said.
The star-studded crowd burst into loud applause following the segment.
Another highlight is that U.S. singer Bruno Mars grabbed most of the awards with his album "24K Magic." He won all six awards that he was nominated for Grammys 2018, including the Album and Record of the Year for "24K Magic" and Song of the Year for "That's What I Like."
"Don't cut me off Grammys, please," Mars said while accepting his awards.
American rapper and songwriter Kendrick Lamar was the night's second biggest winner, picking up five Grammys: Best Music Video for "Humble," which also won Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance. Also he won Best Rap/Sung Performance for "Loyalty" featuring Rihanna.
Best Rap Album also went to Lamar. Speaking from the stage, Lamar accepted the awards by showing his respect for artists who came before him including fellow nominee Jay-Z.
"This is a special award," said Lamar. "It showed me the true definition of what being an artist was...it's not about accolades, cars and clothes ...it's about the next generation. Jay-Z, Nas, Puff - they showed me the game through their lyrics up close and from afar."
Canadian singer and songwriter Alessia Cara won Best New Artist and she admitted having been practicing a Grammy award acceptance speech since childhood -- in the shower.
Speaking to reporters backstage following her win, Cara commented: "I didn't expect this. None of this feels real. I probably won't process this for another seven years."
Cara was the only female artist awarded during the three-and-a-half-hour broadcast.
English singer, songwriter, guitarist, and record producer Ed Sheeran won Best Pop Vocal Album for his album "Divide" and Best Pop Solo Performance for "Shape Of You."
Other notable winners included American singer-songwriter and guitarist Chris Stapleton for Best Country Album; the HBO documentary "The Defiant Ones" about the lives and intertwining careers of producer/record executive Jimmy Iovine and hip-hop legend Dr. Dre, Iovine for Best Music Film; 2016 holdover "La La Land" won Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media and Best Score Soundtrack for Visual Media.
The Grammys awarded artists in 84 categories in multiple genres including classical, jazz, opera, gospel, new age, Christian and Latin music.
Sunday's event marks the Grammy Awards' first return to New York City in 15 years. The 40th annual ceremony were held at Madison Square Garden in 1998 and the 39th Annual Grammy Awards, also held in New York, were held at Radio City Music Hall. The 14 years in between were held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
