Beyonce Knowles - Beyonce & Black Eyed Peas Get Grammy Night Off With A Big Bang

BEYONCE and the BLACK EYED PEAS were already big winners at the Grammy Awards before the official show had started.

Beyonce, who was nominated for 10 top prizes, learned she had already won four as she took her seat at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on Sunday night (31Jan10).

The superstar picked up Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for Single Ladies (Put A Ring On It) and Best Traditional R&B Vocal Performance for her rendition of Etta James classic At Last, which she performed for the Cadillac Records soundtrack.

She also sang her version of the R&B standard as Barack Obama and Michelle Obama danced together as U.S. President and First Lady at an inauguration gala last year (Jan09).

Her Single Ladies track also earned her Best R&B Song honours and her hit I Am... Sasha Fierce was named the 2010 Best Contemporary R&B Album.

Black Eyed Peas claimed three prizes before the big show: Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocals (I Gotta Feeling), Best Pop Vocal Album (The E.N.D.) and Best Short Form Music Video (Boom Boom Pow).

The San Francisco Symphony's classical hit Mahler: Symphony No. 8; Adagio From Symphony No. 10 was also a pre-ceremony triple winner, claiming the Best Choral Performance, Best Classical Album and Best Engineered Album honours.

Double winners prior to the show included Taylor Swift, Kings of Leon, Maxwell, Jay-Z, Jason Mraz and Lady Gaga.