Grammy Awards History and Interesting Facts

Know more interesting facts about Grammy Awards History.

Facts about Grammy Awards History

The Gramophone or the Eddie or the Grammy Awards

The Hollywood Walk of Fame project of the 1950s is responsible for establishing what we see today as the Grammy Awards. Executives in the Walk of Fame Committee realized that most Recording Artists would not be able to gain a Star on Hollywood Boulevard since no award recognizes them. This was when the Grammy Awards were established in 1959. Although originally called the Gramophone Awards, a mail-in contest was announced to decide on the award name. More than 300 entries were received, naming it the ‘Grammys’. The first Grammy Awards began in 1959, but it wasn’t until 1971 that the ceremony was broadcasted live across televisions in the US. Know more about Grammy Awards History.

Nominations, Votes, and Winners

Voting for the Grammy nominees is done by hundreds of music experts in various genres. The first step involves Recording Studios and Recording Academy members submitting their entries for consideration. Once a panel of experts has screened each of these entries for eligibility (production year, appropriate genre or category, etc.), the entries are voted on in a ballot by Recording Academy members. Members would be able only to vote in categories they have the most expertise in, as well as the four main categories:

• Best New Artist
• Song of the Year
• Album of the Year
• Record of the Year

Only members in good standing who have paid their yearly dues would be able to vote. Once voting is complete, the ballots are sent to an independent accounting firm that tallies the votes and provides a list of final nominations to be considered by the National Review Committee. Currently, independent accounting firm Deloitte tallies the votes. Academy members then vote on final nominees, and Deloitte once again tallies the votes. The results are sealed in envelopes which are not revealed until the award ceremony.

US Presidents and the Grammys

US presidents Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama have received the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album. The award for Best Spoken Word goes to recordings of John F. Kennedy and Franklin Roosevelt. The Best Spoken Word category includes audiobooks, poetry readings, and storytelling.

The Grammy Award goes to…

Each Grammy Award is created by hand using a material called Grammium, a zinc alloy composition created by Billings Artworks in Ridgway, Colorado. Parts of the statue are also plated with 24-karat gold. Each year, awards are created and engraved with the winners’ names. Because the awards are not distributed until after the show, props are used during filming. Therefore, the awards reach the winners after the show.