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| Grammy | |
|---|---|
| Current: 66th Annual Grammy Awards | |
 Ted Jensen's 2002 Grammy Award | |
| Awarded for | Outstanding achievements in the music industry |
| Country | United States |
| Presented by | The Recording Academy |
| First awarded | May 4, 1959 (as Gramophone Award) |
| Website | grammy |
| Television/radio coverage | |
| Network | NBC (1959–1970) ABC (1971–1972) CBS (1973–present) |
The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious and significant awards in the music industry worldwide. They were originally called the Gramophone Awards, as the trophy depicts a gilded gramophone.
The Grammys are the first of the Big Three networks' major music awards held annually,[note 1] and are considered one of the four major annual American entertainment awards with the Academy Awards (for films), the Emmy Awards (for television), and the Tony Awards (for theater). The first Grammy Awards ceremony was held on May 4, 1959,[1] to honor the musical accomplishments of performers for the year 1958. After the 2011 ceremony, the Recording Academy overhauled many Grammy Award categories for 2012.[2] The 66th Annual Grammy Awards, featuring a total of 94 categories, was presented February 4, 2024.
History
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The Grammys had their origin in the Hollywood Walk of Fame project in the 1950s.[3][4] As recording executives on the Walk of Fame committee compiled a list of significant recording industry people who might qualify for a Walk of Fame star, they realized that many leading people in their business would not earn a star on Hollywood Boulevard. They determined to rectify this by creating awards given by their industry similar to the Oscars and the Emmys. After deciding to go forward with such awards, a question remained what to call them. One working title was the 'Eddie', to honor Thomas Edison, the inventor of the phonograph. Eventually, the name was chosen after a mail-in contest whereby approximately 300 contestants submitted the name 'Grammy', with the earliest postmark from contest winner Jay Danna of New Orleans, Louisiana, as an abbreviated reference to Emile Berliner's invention, the gramophone.[5] Grammys were first awarded for achievements in 1958.[6][7][8]
The first award ceremony was held simultaneously in two locations on May 4, 1959, the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, and the Park Sheraton Hotel in New York City, New York,[9] with 28 Grammys awarded. The number of awards given grew, at one time reaching over 100, and fluctuated over the years with categories added and removed.[10] The second Grammy Awards, also held in 1959, was the first ceremony to be televised,[11] but the ceremony was not aired live until the 13th Annual Grammy Awards in 1971.[12]
Latin Grammy Awards
The concept of a separate Grammy Awards for Latin music recorded in Spanish or Portuguese began in 1989,[13][14] as it was deemed too large to fit on the regular Grammys ceremony.[15] The Recording Academy then established the Latin Recording Academy in 1997, and the separate Latin Grammy Awards were first held in 2000. The Latin Grammys honor works recorded in Spanish or Portuguese from anywhere around the world that has been released either in Ibero-America, the Iberian Peninsula, or the United States.[16]
COVID-19 Impact (2021–2022)
The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards were postponed from its original January 31, 2021, date to March 14, 2021, due to the music industry impact of COVID-19 pandemic.[17][18]
The 64th Annual Grammy Awards were also postponed from its original January 31, 2022, date to April 3, 2022, due to health and safety concerns related to the COVID-19 Delta cron hybrid variant.[19] The ceremony was also moved from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles to the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas due to the former having scheduling conflicts with sports games and concerts nearly every night through mid-April.[20]
Gramophone trophy
The gold-plated trophies, each depicting a gilded gramophone, are made and assembled by hand by Billings Artworks in Ridgway, Colorado. In 1990, the original Grammy design was reworked, changing the traditional soft lead for a stronger alloy less prone to damage, making the trophy bigger and grander.[21] Billings developed Grammium, a zinc alloy which they trademarked.[22] Trophies engraved with each recipient's name are not available until after the award announcements, so "stunt" trophies are re-used each year for the ceremony broadcast.[23][24]
By February 2009, some 7,578 Grammy trophies had been awarded.[25]