Herbie Hancock Upsets Winehouse, West, Wins Album of the Year

Jazz legend Herbie Hancock left folks slack-jawed as he accepted the Grammy award for Album of the Year for his latest effort, 'River: The Joni Letters' -- an honor expected to go to the highly-favored Amy Winehouse, who, up until the announcement, had won 5 of her six nominations. Presented the award by Usher and Quincy Jones, Hancock honored many of his forebears during his acceptance speech, particularly Miles Davis, as well as the inspiration behind the album: Joni Mitchell.

"When I looked at her material, I looked at the full spectrum -- from her earlier work to some of her later stuff," he told Spinner in September. "I didn't want to have it all come from one record. We didn't want to do only the most popular stuff that she did; we wanted to do some of the more obscure things, too. And you just have a nice variety of material to explore on the recording."

Meanwhile, Hancock also upset Kanye West, whose latest, 'The Graduation,' won Best Rap Album earlier in the evening. It was just one of four wins for West, who, despite being nominated for Album of the Year with each successive release, has yet to walk away with night's biggest honor.