1959: A Record-Breaking Event

The first Grammy Awards® ceremony is held

Only 28 awards categories existed when the first Grammys were handed out at Los Angeles’ Beverly Hills Hotel. Two categories—Best Country & Western Performance and Best Rhythm & Blues Performance—had only one nominee each, which pretty much locked up those winners. Still, the event, then called the Gramophone Awards, sought to recognize the year’s finest vocal, musical, and spoken-word performances.

The National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, the industry group that sponsors the awards, decided from the start that the winners would be chosen by others in the business and that a recording’s popularity on the charts would have no effect on its chances of winning. Nowadays, the Grammys are more than just an awards show, with 108 categories and a global reach.