Kanye West [ tickets ], Mariah Carey and John Legend [ tickets ]--each of whom headed into Wednesday (2/8) night's Grammy ceremony sporting eight nominations--took a back seat to Irish rockers U2 [ tickets ], who swept all five categories in which they were nominated.

The group's take included the night's top honor, Album of the Year, for its 2004 release, "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb," which also pulled down a win for Best Rock Album. The Album of the Year victory is the band's second; the first was for 1987's "The Joshua Tree."

"'How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb' is an odd title for album," U2 frontman Bono said during his Album of the Year acceptance speech. "We accept that. Actually, I was talking about my [late] father Bob. He was the atomic bomb in question. I wanna thank my father Bob for giving me the voice and a bit of attitude to use it."

U2--Bono, guitarist The Edge, bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen, Jr.--also picked up gold gramophones in the Best Rock Song category for "City of Blinding Lights," and in the Song of the Year and Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal categories for "Sometimes You Can't Make It on Your Own."

The five new Grammys bring U2's lifetime tally to 21, the sixth highest number of awards won by a single artist/act in Grammy history, according to the Recording Academy.

Though outshone by U2, West, Carey and Legend each walked away with three trophies.

West pulled down wins for Best Rap Song and Best Rap Solo Performance for his hit "Gold Digger," and Best Rap Album for "Late Registration."

Carey, whose awards were all handed out prior to the televised ceremony, took Best Contemporary R&B Album for "The Emancipation of Mimi"--the top-selling album of 2005--as well as Best R&B Song and Best R&B Vocal Performance for "We Belong Together." The three victories were Carey's first since her 1990 Grammys for Best New Artist and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance.

Legend was crowned Best New Artist, and also captured Best R&B Album for "Get Lifted," as well as Best Male R&B Performance for his hit "Ordinary People."

The night's only other triple-winner was Alison Krauss & Union Station, who took home trophies for Best Country Album ("Lonel Runs Both Ways"), Best Country Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal ("Restless") and Best Country Instrumental Performance ("Unionhouse Branch").

Former "American Idol" contestant Kelly Clarkson further solidified her transition from talent-show winner to a force to be reckoned with by picking up wins for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance ("Since U Been Gone") and Best Pop Vocal Album ("Breakaway").

A complete list of winners from the 48th Annual Grammy Awards [ tickets ] is available here.

Awards were given in a total of 108 categories, but only a handful were presented during the televised ceremony, which took place at Los Angeles' Staples Center. Instead, organizers dedicated much of the event to live performances.

Prior to landing any awards, U2 hit the stage to perform "Vertigo"--the first single from "How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb," which earned the band two trophies at last year's Grammy ceremony--and a duet of its '90s-era hit "One" with Mary J. Blige, who covered the track on her latest album, "The Breakthrough."

Other stand-out collaborative performances included rapper Jay-Z and Linkin Park, who performed their mash-up hit "Numb/Encore," the finale of which also featured Beatles legend Paul McCartney; and West and Foxx, who offered up an elaborate marching-band-themed version of "Gold Digger."

The ceremony also included an all-star tribute to Sly and the Family Stone, which featured Joss Stone, John Legend, Maroon 5, Fantasia, Will.I.Am and Aerosmith's Steven Tyler and Joe Perry. The reclusive, 61-year-old Stone--who hasn't made a major public appearance since his 1993 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame--appeared mid-number. Decked out in a gold trenchcoat, and sporting shades and a massive, platinum-blonde Mohawk, the musician briefly manned a keyboard and sang a few lines before quickly exiting prior to the end of the musical medley.

West--whom MTV quoted in early December as saying "If I don't win Album of the Year, I'm gonna really have a problem with that"--managed to keep his cool when the ceremony's final trophy was handed out, and received a hug from Bono as the singer approached the stage to accept the Album of the Year honor.

"This is our second Album of the Year but we've lost two, 'Achtung Baby' and 'All That You Can't Leave Behind,' so we know how it feels," Bono said during that speech. "Kanye, you're next. He's a great artist [who was] on the road with us [for part of our 2005 tour]."

In typical award-show fashion, producers, in their apparent zeal to introduce Recording Academy Chairman Neil Portnow, cut U2's Album of the Year acceptance speech short just as Mullen stepped to the microphone. To his credit, Portnow appeared displeased with the move, but forged ahead with remarks about the Recording Academy's MusiCares Foundation, which he said has raised $4 million in pledges, and has distributed over $2 million to date, to "music people" affected by last year's Gulf Coast hurricanes.

Portnow then introduced the ceremony's show-closing performance, an all-star tribute to New Orleans that featured Elvis Costello, The Edge, Bonnie Raitt, Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, Irma Thomas and Yolanda Adams, who played Toussaint's "Yes We Can Can"; and Bruce Springsteen and Sam Moore (the latter of soul legends Sam and Dave), who offered up their rendition of the late Wilson Pickett's famous "In the Midnight Hour."