(Credit: LA Times)

The Grammy Awards definitely got it right when they picked smooth LL Cool J to host the Awards.

Knowing that LL Cool J had to address the recent passing of Whitney Houston he opened up the Grammy Awards with a prayer for the late diva.

The likes of Katy Perry, Lady Gaga and Carrie Underwood all bowed their heads in honor of the deceased superstar.

LL Cool J told the audience although Houston deserved the tribute and acknowledgment, the Grammys was about celebrating music, “At the same time, there are so many other artists here that are nominated. This is a new Grammy experience for some of them, some are back again, and they deserve to have a good time and enjoy themselves and not be weighed down by the burden,” noting that it was “about finding a balance. I think we got it right. We’re gonna find out.”

LL explained that originally they did not know how to address the death of Houston,”We were up all night, and we just wanted to figure out [and] show Whitney Houston the love, the appreciation, the love, the respect she deserves based on her as a human being and the career that she had and give her that love and make sure that people know we care,” LL explained to MTV. “And we are connected to her in that way.”

When it came to hosting and how to would affect the show he told MTV, “It affects it. It affects how I open. It affects the tone overall. We’re not gonna get here and then change the rules on the artist; we’re gonna celebrate her life… and then give them room so that they can go out there and do what they do.”

Grammy executive producer Ken Ehrlich also spoke about the tribute to Whitney Houston in a statement, “It’s too fresh in everyone’s memory to do more at this time, but we would be remiss if we didn’t recognize Whitney’s remarkable contribution to music fans in general, and in particular her close ties with the Grammy telecast and her Grammy wins and nominations over the years.”