The latest award ceremony to fall victim to the current COVID-19 restrictions are the 2021 Grammy Awards. Scheduled to take place on January 31st in Los Angeles, with social distancing measures strictly adhered to, the ceremony has been postponed until 14th March 2021. Here are some fun facts you might not know about this prestigious music award:
The iconic music award was almost named “Eddie” after the inventor of the phonograph, Thomas Edison. Modelled after the shape of an old-fashioned gramophone, the trophy soon adopted the more fitting name of “Grammy”. The statuette itself weighs in at around 2.28 kilograms, and the metal used to make it is a patented blend of zinc and a special aluminium alloy. This has since been trademarked as “grammium”. The engraved awards also have parts that are plated in 24-carat gold.
Each year, approximately 20,000 submissions are made to the selection committee. These then have to fulfil qualifying criteria before the final nominations are decided. Three United States’ Presidents have won Grammys – these are Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter and Barack Obama, for “best spoken-word albums”. The record holder and current winner of the Grammy for longest song title goes to Oklahoma band Flaming Lips for “The Wizard Turns On The Giant Silver Flashlight And Puts On His Werewolf Moccasins”.
Finally, Elvis Presley never took home one of the top awards, despite being nominated 14 times. He won two awards for “Inspirational Performance” and was presented a third for “Lifetime Achievement”.
With any luck, the 63rd Recording Academy Awards will take place in March as planned.
