History of annual Grammys

Aaron Tate
Bark! Voice of the Bulldogs
Copy Editor

The Grammys has possibly the biggest annual event in the music industry.
Earning a Grammy could be viewed as an all-time peak for most musical artists. There are several opinions on the world-famous award show. There are several categories and events so fans can see their favorite artists on stage performing. What most people don’t know is how the Grammys got so big and earned that title.
The first-ever Grammy event was held in 1959, originally with the name Gramophone awards. Bobby Darin was the first-ever Grammy award winner, winning the award of Best New artists. Bobby set an example for many artists, continuing to win 4 more awards. Two more awards were won in 1959, 1 award in 1999 and his last in 2010.
The recording academy, run by president Harvey Mason Jr., is in control of the Grammy event. The Grammys is not a fan-voted event. The recording academy members are the only people eligible to vote for the winners. In the past and even now this has caused controversy, saying fans should be able to vote for their favorite artists. Many believe that The Recording Academy is extremely biased and will ‘snub’ or ‘rob’ deserving artists of their awards.
How the Grammys got such a big title is actually quite simple. One main reason is simply the award itself. The golden trophy is to represent a Gramophone. Gramophones were the first-ever pieces of technology made to listen to music. Earning a Grammy is in a way paying homage to the original gramophone. Music has greatly changed since then and artists love to acknowledge that, and a grammy is a perfect way to do so.