Grammy Awards

The Grammy Awards are presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to honor accomplishments in music. Originating from a 1950s Hollywood Walk of Fame project, the name was selected through a contest referencing the gramophone. The inaugural event took place on May 4, 1959, across two sites in Beverly Hills and New York City, presenting 28 awards. Over subsequent decades, the lineup of categories expanded beyond 100 before later adjustments, reaching 95 categories by the 68th annual presentation.

Regarded alongside the Oscars, Emmys, and Tonys as one of four major American entertainment awards, the Grammys shifted venue models over time. Ceremonies occurred simultaneously across host cities including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Nashville until the 13th Annual Grammy Awards in 1971 introduced a single-location format at the Hollywood Palladium. In 2000, Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles became the permanent home, hosting most editions apart from occasional relocations like Las Vegas in 2022.

Handcrafted by Billings Artworks in Ridgway, Colorado, each trophy depicts a gilded gramophone cast from a trademarked zinc alloy called Grammium. Because personalized engravings cannot be completed prior to the live announcement of winners, reusable stunt trophies are handed out during broadcasts. By February 2009, 7,578 trophies had been distributed. In addition to the primary event, the Latin Recording Academy was created in 1997, launching the Latin Grammy Awards in 2000 for Spanish and Portuguese recordings.

Broadcast arrangements have evolved across the history of the event. After the second ceremony established televised coverage in 1959 and live broadcasting commenced in 1971, the show ran on CBS for over fifty years. A ten-year agreement signed on October 30, 2024, between the Recording Academy and the Walt Disney Company transfers the broadcast to ABC, Disney+, and Hulu. The 69th annual ceremony, scheduled for February 7, 2027, at Crypto.com Arena, will mark the first ABC broadcast since 1972.