The 51st Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, on February 8, 2009, honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2007, through September 30, 2008.

Krauss became the sixth female solo artist to have won 5 awards in one night, joining Lauryn Hill, Alicia Keys, Norah Jones, Beyoncé Knowles, and Amy Winehouse.

The awards broadcast won an Emmy for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Variety Series or Special.

George Carlin, Jerry Wexler, Jerry Reed, Mike Smith, Rick Wright, Eartha Kitt, Buddy Miles, Mitch Mitchell, Earl Palmer, Buddy Harman, Freddie Hubbard, David "Fathead" Newman, Johnny Griffin, Jimmy McGriff, Mike Berniker, Teo Macero, Eddy Arnold, Nick Reynolds, Miriam Makeba, Odetta, Pervis Jackson, Cachao López, Norman Smith, Neil Aspinall, William Claxton, Neal Hefti, Jo Stafford, Levi Stubbs, Jheryl Busby, Norman Whitfield, Claude Jeter, Ira Tucker, Dottie Rambo, Larry Norman, Merl Saunders, F.M.

Scott III, Delaney Bramlett, Alton Ellis, Shakir Stewart, Static Major, Leonard Pennario, Norman Dello Joio, Alexander Slobodyanik, Henry Z. Steinway, Earle Hagen, Isaac Hayes, Danny Federici and Bo Diddley.