Over the last few years, the Grammys and their millions of viewers have gotten well acquainted with Brandi Carlile, the ballad slayer. But did they know — I mean really know — Brandi Carlile, the ferocious, no-bull, muddy-booted, butt-kicking rock star?

If they didn’t, they sure as heck do now.

Shortly into the 65th Annual Grammy Awards, Carlile and her rowdy friends — including longtime bandmates Tim and Phil Hanseroth and esteemed Seattle drummer Matt Chamberlain — stampeded through her fierce, dusty canyon rocker “Broken Horses” after an adorable intro from Carlile’s wife, Catherine, and their two daughters.

But there was nothing cutesy about the ensuing throwdown with a song that sweats motor oil — and had already won two awards. It’s a wonder Harry Styles didn’t flip a table and start a mosh pit.

One of the Grammys’ leading nominees this year with seven total nods, the Washington folk rocker (emphasis on the rock) literally and figuratively rocked “music’s biggest night” on Sunday. By the time the televised ceremony began, Carlile had already bagged three awards, starting the day with a celebratory headbang during the daytime Premiere Ceremony where most of the awards are dealt.

“Rock ‘n’ roll!” Carlile hollered after she and the Hanseroth twins made their first afternoon march to the podium to accept the best rock performance award as the house band played Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name.” “Oh, I cannot tell you how much this means to us. We were born and raised in Seattle and when I met these guys 22 years ago, we decided to get in a van and be a band together, and I met them and they were covered in Ramones tattoos, they had never even played an acoustic guitar. And then this happened.”

Among the usual acknowledgments to her team, bandmates, and others, Carlile added a thank you to “everybody in Seattle that made us want to strive for this incredible accolade.”

A minute later, the trio returned to accept the best rock song honor, where they faced competition from legacy artists Ozzy Osbourne and Red Hot Chili Peppers and indie heavyweights The War on Drugs and Turnstile.

“Oh my God, this is amaaaazing!” a floored Carlile exclaimed. “Oh, I’ll never be the same. My mom’s out there, Teresa Carlile. Mom, I gotta thank you for telling me to stop singing so angry because I obviously ignored that like I ignored everything you ever told me to do. But I cut my hair and I learned how to scream and I just won a Grammy for a rock ‘n’ roll song that I wrote with all my heart.”

While those were Carlile’s first rock nominations, she notched another three in her Americana/roots home base. After losing out to “my hero” Bonnie Raitt for best Americana performance and best American roots song, Carlile’s name was called again, with “In These Silent Days” winning best Americana album.

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