The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards took place on January 31, 2010. CBS broadcasted the event, which took place again at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares Person of the Year on January 29. Beyoncé Knowles led the nominees with ten nominations. Other nominees include Taylor Swift with eight and the Black Eyed Peas, Maxwell, Kanye West with six nominations, and David Guetta, Jay-Z and Lady Gaga with five nominations. Colbie Caillat, Kings of Leon, Bruce Springsteen, T-Pain, and Keith Urban each received four nominations. Eminem became the Hip-Hop Artist with the second highest number of Grammy Awards winning 2 in the ceremony which makes a total of 11 Grammy Awards for him, while only Kanye West winning 2 further awards with having a total of 14 Grammy Awards beating him. Beyoncé set a new record for most Grammy Awards won by a female artist in a single night with six. Taylor Swift won four and the Black Eyed Peas and the Kings of Leon won three. Taylor Swift's Fearless was awarded the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, Swift's first Album of the Year award in her career. "Use Somebody" by rock band Kings of Leon won the Grammy Award for Record of the Year, while "Single Ladies" by songwriters Thaddis Harrell, Beyoncé Knowles, The-Dream and Christopher Stewart, was named Song of the Year.

Unbroken is the sophomore album from American Idol season five runner-up, Katharine McPhee. The album was released on January 5, 2010 by Verve Forecast Records, her first album on the label. It debuted at #27 on the Billboard 200, selling 15,000 copies in its first week.