Whitney Houston Heavy Grammys Second Highest Rated Show Ever

Music's biggest night brought in 39 million viewers, making it the second most-watched Grammy Awards in history and managed to bring in a larger audience than the 2011 Academy Awards. The only Grammy Awards to outrank this year's broadcast was Michael Jackson's big year in 1984, which brought in 43.8 million viewers.

Sunday night's Grammys were worth a tune-in and that didn't go unnoticed by the public: Jennifer Hudson performed an emotional tribute to the late Whitney Houston, Adele nearly collapsed into a fit of tears (and snot) and Nicki Minaj had a controversial onstage religious experience.

With Whitney Houston's passing on Saturday, fans were no doubt anxious to see how the Grammys would handle the loss of one of the biggest names in music, and of course, whether 23-year-old Adele would manage to take home every award she was nominated for; and they weren't disappointed.