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Sunday, February 12, 2012

Adele to star at Grammys clouded by Houston death

The Beach Boys and Britain's award-winning singer Adele will stage comeback performances Sunday at the Grammys, although the annual music awards will be clouded by the death of Whitney Houston.

Paul McCartney, Coldplay and Bruce Springsteen are also among major acts to play in Los Angeles, where country legend Glen Campbell, suffering from Alzheimer's and on a farewell tour, will receive a lifetime achievement award.

Adele, playing her first live show since undergoing throat surgery last year, is nominated in six categories at the Grammys, just one behind top-tipped US rapper Kanye West, with seven nods.

The British soul singer broke records with her breakthrough second album "21," including the hits "Rolling in the Deep" and "Someone Like You." It is unclear what she will sing Sunday night at the Staples Center.

Arguably an even bigger comeback will be by the Beach Boys, who will perform on stage for the first time since announcing a 50th anniversary reunion tour and album.

The original members of the band, famous for hits including "Good Vibrations," "California Girls" and "Surfin' USA," will play with two Grammy nominees, Foster The People and Maroon 5, organizers said.

But the three-hour Grammys show risks being clouded by the death Saturday of Houston, found dead in her hotel room shortly before she was due to attend a traditional eve-of-Grammys party with her mentor, veteran producer Clive Davis.

The singer, who was 48, had a string of number one hits in the 1980s and 90s including "I Will Always Love You," but later descended into a prolonged battle with drugs and drink.

Grammys producer Ken Ehrlich said organizers were scrambling to include a tribute to Houston in the show involving Singer Jennifer Hudson, who was presented with her 2009 best R&B album Grammy by Houston.

The tribute will be "respectful" while highlighting her stunning music, he told CNN, adding: "Knowing Whitney as I did ... she knew the importance of thrilling an audience, and that's what we still plan to do."

Other performers at Sunday's show include Springsteen and the E Street Band, veteran crooner Tony Bennett as well as more current stars including Perry, Minaj and Taylor Swift.

British megagroup Coldplay will play with Rihanna, while ailing "Rhinestone Cowboy" star Campbell -- on his Goodbye Tour before retiring -- will perform with award-winning country stars The Band Perry and Blake Shelton.

Former Beatle McCartney will perform at the show, after being honored at a pre-Grammys tribute show also featuring legendary soft rockers James Taylor and Neil Young with Crazy Horse.

Rapper West is nominated in the most categories at this year's Grammys -- the music industry's version of the Oscars -- while the Foo Fighters and Hawaiian crooner Bruno Mars were tied with Adele, with six nominations.

West's seven nods include "All of the Lights" for Song of the Year, up against Mumford and Sons' "The Cave," Mars's "Grenade," Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" and Bon Iver's "Holocene."

Grammys organizers this year cut the number of categories in the awards show from 109 to 78, the first restructuring since the music industry's top prizes were first handed out in 1959.

A protest is planned Sunday afternoon, shortly before the Grammys show gets underway at 5:00 pm (0100 GMT Monday), by musicians and others angry at the demise of award categories including Latin jazz, Hawaiian and Native American.

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