Many musicians have weighed in on the significance of Barack Obama's historic presidential election win. But few offer as much perspective or eloquence as the legendary B.B. King, a man, who at 83, lived through the civil rights struggle. Backstage at the 2009 Grammy nominations on Wednesday night, King told Spinner what the victory meant to him.

"I never thought I would live long enough to see a black president in my lifetime," King said. "But I believed all of my life that one day there would be someone like Dr. King once said, [and] people would be thought of and loved and appreciated for what they did and not their color. And that to me makes me very happy to think of that.

Summon Paul Revere. The British are coming! It was a veritable British invasion as for the first time in 15 years, three acts from the other side of the pond received Grammy nominations Wednesday night for the coveted Album of the Year.

The Brits score a clean sweep for Record of the Year, with all five of the nominated songs performed by British acts (as with Album of the Year, Robert Plant is joined here by American Allison Krauss, but he's British enough for both of them.) Meanwhile, in Song of the Year, three British acts scored a nod, and a pair of British lasses garnered Best New Artist nods.

Both Coldplay's 'Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends' and Radiohead's 'In Rainbows,' whom many pundits feared would cancel each other out, will vie for Album of the Year with Plant and Krauss' 'Rising Sand,' Lil Wayne's 'Tha Carter lll' and Ne-Yo's 'Year of the Gentleman.' 'Tha Carter' is this year's top seller, having notched more than 2.7 million copies sold, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Wayne leads all nominees with eight nods. He is followed by Coldplay with seven, while Jay-Z, Ne-Yo and Kanye West each have six. Meanwhile, shut out from the Album of the Year category was Grammy favorite Alicia Keys, who was widely expected to garner a nomination for 'As I Am.'

Herbie Hancock's Best Album of the Year Grammy win for his latest effort, 'River: The Joni Letters,' was certainly the night's biggest shock and arguably upset, but all the better to bring attention to the inspiration behind the album: Joni Mitchell. "I have a deep respect for Joni and what she stands for," Hancock told Spinner. "I'm hoping people get to see what she's about and what her character is about. She's a person that stands up for what she believes in. That's what I like about her."

Hancock will surely see interest in his muse surge, as the win brings awareness of the folk icon to new generations. But when asked if he felt like an ambassador of Mitchell's music, Hancock was quick to shun the title. "No, I don't feel that way," he said. "That may be a function that is a result of this record [and] I'm hoping that it can be."

Kanye West's 'Stronger' -- a tune synonymous with 2007 -- earned a Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance and offered Daft Punk the chance to make their first-ever television appearance, not to mention the first time West performed with the French House icons, during Sunday night's awards ceremony. The performance also revealed some of the mystery of the famous Daft Punk pyramid, with an ariel view into the robots' lair.

Amy Winehouse and Kanye West had their names called the most during the 2008 Grammy Awards, held this year at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Winehouse, won five of the six categories in which she was up for a prize, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year. The troubled soul singer, conspicuously absent due to visa troubles, nonetheless performed two songs via satellite from London. In the third major category, Album of the Year, in which both Winehouse and West were nominated, music legend Herbie Hancock received the nod, for his 'River: The Joni Letters,' his interpretation of songs by Joni Mitchell.

West, who is coming off the recent death of his mother, was bestowed Best Rap Album for 'Graduation' and Best Rap Song for 'Stronger' among his four wins. Other notable multiple winners include Bruce Springsteen, with three statues for various songs from his 'Magic' album, the White Stripes, who garnered a pair of awards related to 'Icky Thump,' and Grammy favorites the Foo Fighters, who received Best Hard Rock honors for their song 'The Pretender' and Best Rock Album for 'Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace.' Prince picked up the Best Male R&B plaudit for 'Future Baby Mama,' and Robert Plant and Alison Krauss snagged Best Pop Collaboration With Vocals for their duet on 'Gone Gone Gone (Done Moved On).'

Joni Mitchell, whose friend Herbie Hancock secured his big win with an album of her songs, took home some hardware of her own, getting the nod for Pop Instrumental Performance for 'One Week Last Summer.' Flight of the Conchords, New Zealand's fourth most popular comedy folk duo, have most likely moved up in that ranking thanks to their Best Comedy Album win for 'The Distant Future.' Read the full story here.

Jazz legend Herbie Hancock left folks slack-jawed as he accepted the Grammy award for Album of the Year for his latest effort, 'River: The Joni Letters' -- an honor expected to go to the highly-favored Amy Winehouse, who, up until the announcement, had won 5 of her six nominations. Presented the award by Usher and Quincy Jones, Hancock honored many of his forebears during his acceptance speech, particularly Miles Davis, as well as the inspiration behind the album: Joni Mitchell.

"When I looked at her material, I looked at the full spectrum -- from her earlier work to some of her later stuff," he told Spinner in September. "I didn't want to have it all come from one record. We didn't want to do only the most popular stuff that she did; we wanted to do some of the more obscure things, too. And you just have a nice variety of material to explore on the recording."

Meanwhile, Hancock also upset Kanye West, whose latest, 'The Graduation,' won Best Rap Album earlier in the evening. It was just one of four wins for West, who, despite being nominated for Album of the Year with each successive release, has yet to walk away with night's biggest honor.

Proving they can still rock, legends John Fogerty, Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard took the stage at the Grammy Awards for a medley of classic favorites. The 'Cornerstone of Rock' montage was opened by the 62-year-old Fogerty -- his first time ever to perform at the Grammys. The 72-year-old Lewis was next, tickling the ivories on his classic 'Great Balls of Fire.' Then the cameras panned to another piano, where the 75-year-old Little Richard electrified the crowd with 'Good Golly, Miss Molly.' Fogerty's band backed all three players.

During tonight's 2008 Grammy Awards, Amy Winehouse, nominated for six prizes, had her name called five times, most notably winning Record of the Year and Song of the Year for performing and writing the sadly prophetic song 'Rehab.'

For the best record kudos, she defeated Beyonce's 'Irreplaceable,' the Foo Fighters' 'The Pretender,' Rihanna's 'Umbrella' and Justin Timberlake's 'What Goes Around...Comes Around.' A teary Winehouse, upon news of her victory, made certain to thank her "incarcerated" husband, Blake Fielder-Civil, via satellite.

Similarly, denied for best song were the songwriters of Carrie Underwood's 'Before He Cheats,' Plain White T's' 'Hey There Delilah,' Corinne Bailey Rae's 'Like a Star' and Rihanna's 'Umbrella.' Winehouse has also been named Best New Artist, beating out Feist, Ledisi, Paramore and Taylor Swift. The troubled vocalist has also snagged two more awards: Best Female Pop Vocal Performance, for 'Rehab,' and Best Pop Vocal Album, for her 'Back in Black' long-player.

Due to a visa request granted too late for her to attend the ceremony live, the currently rehabbing soul singer was unable to pick up her collection of shiny new hardware in person. Even though Winehouse couldn't attend in the flesh, the British soul singer performed her award-winning song via satellite from London along with 'You Know I'm No Good.'

5:51 pm: We officially kick off Grammys 2008 with the red carpet arrivals. And no, we're not referring to Lindsay Lohan.

6:01 pm: Speaking of Lindsay Lohan, Ne-Yo tells E!'s Giuliana Rancic that he's working with the actress on her new album. Make it stop.

6:03 pm: Giuliana is telling us to text the word "carpet" to vote for something or other. Silver platter, Giuliana. Silver platter.

6:08 pm: Who let Celine out? Oh, wait, that's Debbie Matenopoulos, here to provide us all with her fashion expertise. What we've learned: Women, if you want to look hot, starve yourself, master cleanse and don't skimp on the skin. Modesty is overrated and boring.

6:17 pm: The Plain White T's arrive ... with Delilah. Milk it, girl.

Amy Winehouse, who, along with Kanye West, lead the Grammy nominations this year with six, will not be attending the ceremony this Sunday night.

The troubled singer, who's recently simultaneously been seen shooting drugs on video and entering rehab, was denied a U.S. visa for the event. Her publicist issued the following statement today:

"Amy has been progressing well since entering a rehabilitation clinic two weeks ago and although disappointed with the decision has accepted the ruling and will be concentrating on her recovery.

Amy has been treated well and fairly by the Embassy staff and thanks everyone for their support in trying to make this happen.

There will of course be other opportunities and she very much looks forward to visiting America in the near future." Bummer.