2.15.16 Grammy Night!!

The BEVERLY HILTON was the place to be for CLIVE DAVIS' PRE-GRAMMY GALA last night, marking its 40th year since the record executive initiated the event in 1976 to celebrate BARRY MANILOW's nomination for RECORD OF THE YEAR for "Mandy." Several VIPs, though, were faced with a dilemma for just a few miles away at DAVID GEFFEN's BEVERLY HILLS mansion: APPLE's JIMMY IOVINE was getting married to LIBERTY ROSS in front of 300 guests dressed in red for VALENTINE'S DAY.

DAVIS entered his annual bash arm-in-arm with MANILOW, just three days removed from the emergency room, where he was rushed after complications from oral surgery (NET NEWS 2/12), and CARLY SIMON, who was recruited to step in at the last minute if BARRY was unable to perform.

MANILOW belted out "Mandy," then followed with "Zing! Went The Strings Of My Heart," performed as a duet with JUDY GARLAND on video, from his own GRAMMY-nominated duets album, "My Dream Duets." CARLY SIMON followed with "You're So Vain," while BECK and NIRVANA's DAVE GROHL and KRIST NOVASELIC paid homage to DAVID BOWIE with "The Man Who Sold The World."

Other performers included ADRA DAY, TORI KELLY, ADRA DAY, CHICAGO and a finale featuring ADAM LAMBERT, and JACK ANTONOFF rocking out to BOWIE's "Let's Dance."

IRVING AZOFF was honored with the PRESIDENT'S MERIT AWARD, in recognition of his signifcant contributions to the music industry and his numerous philanthropic endeavors, joining such past recipients as HERB ALPERT and JERRY MOSS, MARTIN BANIDER, SIR RICHARD BRANSON, AHMET ERTEGUN, DAVID GEFFEN, BERRY GORDY, LUCIAN GRAINGE, DOUG MORRIS, MO OSTIN and ANTONIO "L.A." REID.

Among the typically eclectic crowd walking the red carpet were: JANE FONDA, BLAKE SHELTON and GWEN STEFANI, SYLVESTER STALLONE, HARRY STYLES, ZAYN MALIK, JOHN LEGEND and a very pregnant CHRISSY TEIGEN, LANA DEL REY, ELLE KING, MEGHAN TRAINOR, ALICE COOPER, SUSAN PELOSI, MARTIN BANDIER, NEIL PORTNOW, AVRIL LAVIGNE and CHAD KROEGER, DJ KHALED, BUZZ ALDRIN, KEVIN BACON, RINGO STARR, MAVIS STAPLES, MICHAEL KEATON, WEIRD AL YANKOVIC, JON BON JOVI, CHRIS ROCK, JAMES BAY, CHRISTINA AGUILERA, KAT DENNINGS and JOSH GROBAN, RUSSELL WILSON and CIARA, ELLIE GOULDING, JENNIFER HUDSON, LARRY KING, COURTNEY LOVE, NATASHA BEDINGFIELD, BRANDY, MIRANDA KERR, JORDIN SPARKS, EARTH WIND & FIRE's VERDINE WHITE, PHILIP BAILEY and RALPH JOHNSON.