Despite being a household name, the Grammy Awards have only been around for 67 years, putting them in the “respectable grandparent” category. This year (2025 for future readers) also featured the highest number of categories yet, meaning that there were 94 awards up for grabs. Incidentally, Beyonce won in 11 different categories, meaning she won a very impressive 11.7% of this year's awards.
She currently has the most Grammy awards of any person ever (35), although it’s important to point out that this includes wins when she was part of Destiny’s Child and The Carters. Still, it’s a huge achievement.
Before 1990, the actual physical trophy was made of relatively soft lead that was then gilded. It was so soft that, reportedly, the awards would often get bent and damaged over time. It was only in 1990 when they decided to finally make it a bit stronger. Why they went with such a cheap design prior to that year is anyone’s guess.
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Interestingly, there are also Grammy participation awards, for folks who “contributed” to a record but are not eligible to actually, potentially, win an award. It’s funny to think that the Recording Academy and 6th grade team sports operate, on some level, with a similar mindset. This fact ends up being pretty unknown because who out there is going to post wide and far about a certificate?
The venue used for the awards is the comically, if somewhat tragically named Crypto.com Arena, which was better known as the Staples Center from 1999 to 2021. It will bear the name of the cryptocurrency exchange for twenty years, after the company paid a whooping $700 million. Interestingly, during awards ceremonies, the arena’s home teams actually need to play extended away seasons.
Undoubtedly, a major draw of the Grammys are the various celebrity appearances and, of course, the discussions about what they are (or aren’t) wearing. This adds an entire separate category of things to discuss, since, let’s face it, people love to discuss celebrity drama, even when there is nothing substantial going on.
