Caught! Jay-Z Defends Beyoncé at Pre-Grammy Bash

Music's hottest stars hit up Clive Davis' Grammy party

Jay-Z making a rather fashionably late appearance at Clive Davis' annual pre-Grammy gala at the Beverly Hilton hotel last night.

Jay, who was still sporting Oliver Peoples sunglasses around 9:30 p.m., arrived with his entourage in tow, which consisted of two model-looking babes as well.

So where was Beyoncé?

Despite the fact that B didn't make any fashionable appearance of sorts, don't think Jay forgot about his lady!

Clive was onstage, paying tribute to a gal in the audience with "five decades" of No. 1 hits. A girl next to Jay-Z got superexcited at hearing that, turned to him and said, "OMG...it's Beyoncé! Beyoncé is here!"

J.Z.'s crew started cracking up as B's hubby turned to her and replied:

"Five decades? Five decades? My girl ain't that old!"

Of course, the real recipient of Clive's affection was Barbra Streisand, who was being honored at last night's event.

A slightly younger, but already successful, cutie in the audience was...

Taylor Swift, looking rail-thin in a gorgeous silver sequin minidress. Appreciate that metabolism while you've got it, honey!

Swift, who was all smiles throughout the evening, graciously chatted with anyone and everyone who came up to her throughout the night (and there were many fans, trust).

One brunette who apparently just screened Valentine's Day applauded the singer (now singer slash actress) on her "surprisingly funny" performance.

But don't think Taylor's giving up the mic for more scripts. As fun as she said being a part of the movie was (and easy, since she 'fessed it was only about two days of work), she's not retiring from music anytime soon to add that "slash" to her resume.

While Taylor cruised solo, a threesome attached at the hip was...

Rihanna, Katy Perry and her fiancé, Russell Brand.

Katy and Ri-Ri rarely left each other's sides, standing up to dance together when the Black Eyed Peas performed "I Got a Feeling" (even though Josh Duhamel stayed seated) and took a few girly bathroom breaks together, too.

But don't think Russell was annoyed by any third-wheelin'.

All three stepped out to the smoking patio to talk, laugh and drink for most of the night. Looks like Katy's bestie totally approves of her new guy.

Unfortunately, it doesn't look like Rihanna and Katy will mix business with pleasure. When asked on the carpet if Perry would like to team up with Rihanna, the usually joking gal stayed totally mum. Is it wishful thinking to hope that's because something is already in the works?

While Katy and Russell were getting their cozy time on, Rihanna danced and mingled with the crowd...including ex-flame Drake, while her new BF, Matt Kemp was nowhere in sight.

That relaysh isn't gonna go anywhere if Kemp is too big of a baby to face a little press!

Either way, glad last night went much better for Rihanna than a year ago.