Adele accepts the award for record of the year for Rolling in the Deep during the Grammy Awards

Adele was the big winner at the Grammy Awards in America, picking up six trophies – and there was also posthumous success for Amy Winehouse.

The prestigious trifecta of record, song and album of the year were among the gongs collected by Adele, who also made a triumphant comeback from vocal cord surgery on the Grammy stage.

Her victories tied her with Beyonce as having registered the most wins by a woman in one evening.

“Mum, gold is good!” shouted Londoner Adele as she took the album of the year trophy.

There was a sombre tone to the Grammys, owing to the death of singing legend Whitney Houston the night before.

.She was remembered throughout the ceremony, and there was also an honour for Londoner Amy Winehouse, who died last July.

When Tony Bennett won for best pop performance by a duo or group for his duet with Winehouse, he invited the late singer’s parents to join him on stage during the awards ceremony’s pre-show segment.

“We shouldn’t be here. Our darling daughter should be here,” Winehouse’s father Mitch said after he and the singer’s mother Janis had embraced Bennett.

Mitch Winehouse also noted Whitney Houston’s death and the recent passing of Etta James.

“What can I say?” he said. “There’s a beautiful girl band up in heaven.”