Beyonce, according to Variety, was on hand at the arena to accept this one, unlike earlier in the CBS telecast when she was not yet on the premises for the win that had her achieving a tie, when 'Cuff It' got best R&B song and earned her win number 31.

"I'm trying not to be too emotional and I'm trying to just receive this night," she said, after breaking the record a little more than two hours into the main telecast. "I want to thank God for protecting me.... I'd like to thank my uncle Johnny, who's not here, but he's here in spirit."

She thanked her parents, husband and three children before concluding: "I'd like to thank the queer community for your love and for inventing this genre."

Two of her awards were given out during the non-televised premiere ceremony in the afternoon, and she picked two more during the prime-time telecast.

When she won at the half-hour point in the primetime telecast for 'Cuff It', in absentia, jokes abounded, Variety reported.

"Beyonce is on her way," said host Trevor Noah, making a crack about L.A. traffic as the R&B song award was presented without the honoree yet in attendance, a half-hour into the telecast.

The Dream, a co-writer and co-producer, came to the podium and quipped about 'CP time', cut out as it went out over the air. Nile Rodgers, who played on the track, also briefly spoke, unbleeped, at the podium.