lil wayne

The 51st annual Grammy Awards took place last night, featuring a plethora of quality performances and collaborations. During the course of the evening, viewers witnessed Dave Grohl playing with Paul McCartney, Coldplay with Jay-Z, Radiohead with the USC marching band, the "Rap Pack" featuring Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, TI, and an extremely rotund preggers M.I.A., B.B. King with Buddy Guy, John Mayer and Keith Urban, Lil Wayne with Allen Toussaint, The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Terence Blanchard and Robin Thicke, and Al Green performing a surprisingly good duet with Justin Timberlake on his classic "Let's Stay Together" backed by Boyz II Men and Keith Urban. Also taking the stage during the three-and-a-half hour televised event were Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Stevie Wonder, Adele, Smokey Robinson, Estelle and MusicCares Person of the Year Neil Diamond.

To pass the time between performances they also decided to hand out a few of those coveted golden record players. The big winners of the night were Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, who took home Album of the Year for Raising Sand, Record of the Year for "Please Read The Letter," and a few other various awards. Other notable winners included Lil Wayne for Best Rap Album, Coldplay for Best Rock Album and Song of the Year, and Radiohead for Best Alternative Music Album.

Check out the full list of winners and more videos from the event after the jump

After fifty long years of award giving, the big wigs over at the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences have finally gotten it right. The official list of nominees for the 51st annual Grammy Awards has been announced, and to the delight of many true music fans, includes several non-top-40 artists. While some of your favorite teeny-boppers are still on the list, they are much less noticeable than in prior years. Leading the pack this year with nominations for Album of the Year are New Orleans syrup-sipper Lil Wayne, Mr. Paltrow's band Coldplay, ex-Zeppelin Robert Plant and his project with Alison Krauss, Ne-Yo (?), and perhaps the most deserving of the bunch, Radiohead. All five Album of the Year award nominees are also up for several other categories in their respective genres.

Check out our other favorites that made it to this year's nomination list after the jump

Lil Wayne @ Voodoo Experience 2008

This year's Voodoo Experience featured many intriguing bands and artists, but there was one that stood out above the rest. New Orleans native Lil Wayne, who is widely regarded as one of the best rappers working today, came back to his hometown to draw one of the largest crowds of the weekend. BOT friend Bacon even drove all the way from Houston basically for this one show. We asked him to share some words about the experience – check out what he had to say after the jump.

In what seemed like an endless weekend of music on the east coast with All Points West in New York and the Baltimore edition of Virgin Mobile Festival, people made their decisions and ended up in one city or the other. Those that made their way to Baltimore found themselves surrounded by a headliner assault on both Saturday and Sunday. Saturday found both Jack Johnson and the Foo Fighters filling the headlining spots with Wilco, Chuck Berry & The Silver Beats, The Offspring, The Swell Season, Bloc Party, Lupe Fiasco, and many more performing on the two main stages. Sunday's headlining spots were taken by Nine Inch Nails and Kanye West, with big names like Bob Dylan, Stone Temple Pilots, Iggy & The Stooges, Lil' Wayne, The Black Keys, She & Him, and more on the main stages. Virgin Mobile Festival also featured a dance stage, highlighted by sets from Underworld, Moby, Ferry Corsten, Armin Van Buuren, Chromeo, and a ton of other make-yo-ass-shake DJ's. A bunch of kind festival-goers were generous enough to tape some of their experiences to share with the world, and we've rounded up some footage for your viewing pleasure.

Check out videos from both Saturday and Sunday after the jump