Keith Urban wins fourth Grammy

LOS ANGELES - Keith Urban has won the fourth Grammy of his career.

The New Zealand-born musician and husband of Nicole Kidman won the Best Male Country Vocal Performance award, beating Toby Keith, Jamey Johnson, David Nail and Chris Young.

All four of Urban's Grammys over the years have come in this category.

Earlier at the Grammy ceremony, four Buddhist monks who teamed up with a producer on the NSW north coast missed out on a Grammy Award.

The Gyuto monks of Tibet, who were travelling in Australia, became unlikely Grammy nominees after the producer Kamal Engels recorded their chants in the town of Mullumbimby and sent them to his record label in the US.

The monks were nominated for the recording, Pure Sounds, in the Best Traditional World Music Album category.

The winner was Malian musicians Ali Farka Toure and Toumani Diabate.

The Gyuto monks found themselves competing for a Grammy on the same night Urban and music's other elite, including Lady Gaga, Bruno Mars, teen sensation Justin Bieber and rappers Eminem and Jay-Z are chasing trophies inside the 20,000 seat Staples Center indoor stadium in downtown Los Angeles.

The Grammy Awards are the biggest night of the year for the music industry, with rapper Eminem leading the way with 10 nominations, Bruno Mars with seven while Jay-Z, Lady Antebellum and Lady Gaga are up for six.

The Grammys will also feature performances from a who's who of artists, with Bieber, Usher, Barbra Streisand, Mick Jagger, Dr Dre, Rihanna, Eminem, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga taking to the Staples Center stage.

- AAP