1. Holding the statue for the record of the year for "Uptown Funk," Mark Ronson pointed to George Clinton in the audience and declared, "He has done more for funk than we could ever dream of." True that. Ronson also thanked Prince, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, and James Brown for inspiring him.

2. When collecting his first on-camera award, Kendrick Lamar gave a shout-out to his parents for teaching him "about knowing and accepting the good and the bad." He also saluted hip-hop, mentioning such heroes as Nas and Snoop Dogg, neither of whom has won a Grammy.

3. Pointing out that she was the first woman to win album of the year twice, Taylor Swift gave an impassioned speech directed at women, urging them to ignore the naysayers and to just focus on the work and "you'll know it's you and the people who love you who put you there."

4. After nabbing song of the year for "Thinking Out Loud," British pop star Ed Sheeran said, "My parents flew in for the past four years [when he was nominated]. Every time I lost and they go 'Maybe next year.'" This year he won two trophies. Finally.

5. On the podium with her best new artist prize, a tearful Meghan Trainor thanked her parents, manager and key label executives and blurted: "I'm a mess. I have to go cry."

Jon Bream