Arcade Fire won the prestigious Album of the Year prize for The Suburbs, while Record of the Year went to Lady Antebellum for Need You Now.
Lady Antebellum also picked up gongs for Song of the Year, Country Album, Country Performance and Country Song.
Lady Gaga won best Pop Vocal Album for The Fame Monster and she also got the nod in the Female Pop Vocal Performance category for her smash hit Bad Romance.
Rap Album and Rap Solo Performance titles both went to Eminem for Recovery and Not Afraid.
British band Muse won best Rock Album for The Resistance. Other British winners on the night included Jeff Beck, La Roux and The Beatles.
The New Artist award went to the 26-year-old jazz musician Esperanza Spalding.