Grammys stage used for mass wedding

The music industry's top night turned into the big day for 34 couples as Madonna and other stars presided over a mass wedding in a celebration of gay marriage.

The 34 couples - some same-sex, some opposite-sex, and diverse in race and appearance - exchanged rings before the Grammys stage at Los Angeles' Staples Center, which was momentarily transformed into a brightly lit church with a gospel choir.

The couples' wedding serenade was Same Love, performed by hip-hop duo Macklemore & Ryan Lewis.

The Grammy-nominated song has been embraced by marriage equality campaigners as momentum builds in a growing number of countries to allow same-sex partners to tie the knot.

Macklemore and Lewis, who racked up Grammys including best new artist, were joined halfway through their song by one of the gay community's most enduring icons - Madonna.

Sporting a white suit and cowboy hat, Madonna sang the high-energy chorus of her 1986 song Open Your Heart.

The marriages were made official by Queen Latifah, who is authorised to perform weddings in California.

"When we say music has the power to bring people together at the Grammys, we mean it," a visibly moved Queen Latifah told the audience.

The New York Times, which reported on the mass wedding shortly before the ceremony, said Grammys producer, Ken Ehrlich, approached Macklemore and Lewis about the idea after learning the duo's concerts have generated on-stage marriage proposals.

A casting agency recruited couples, initially telling them only that the wedding would take place on live television and insisting that they sign confidentiality agreements so they would not even tell their families, the newspaper said.

Seventeen US states and the capital, Washington, allow gay marriage. Opinion polls show a majority of Americans support same-sex couples' right to wed, a rapid turnaround in just the past decade. Same-sex marriage is legal in all or part of 16 other countries.