Skip to content

Five for Friday: The Grammys

Five facts about "Music's Biggest Night"
audience-1835431_1280
(Pixabay)

The Grammys, known as the “biggest night in music,” will be held on Jan. 26. The awards have been held every year since their inception in 1959. This year, Lizzo leads the way with eight nominations, followed by Billie Eilish and Lil Nas X with six nominations each. All three are first-time nominees. There will be live performances from names like Ariana Grande, Demi Lovato, Camila Cabello, Aerosmith, the Jonas Brothers, Run-D.M.C., and the duo of Gwen Stefani and Blake Shelton.

This week, we present five facts about the Grammys.

EGOT

The Grammy is one of entertainment’s “big four” awards. The other three include the Emmy (TV), Oscar (film) and Tony (theatre). Just 15 people have won all four. Winners include Audrey Hepburn, Whoopie Goldberg, Mel Brooks, Andrew Lloyd Weber, and John Legend.

Must-See TV

The Grammys are routinely one of the biggest nights in television. Last year, the Grammys were the 17th most-watched show on TV with around 20 million viewers. It was third most-watched non-sports show in 2019, behind only the Oscars and the series finale of The Big Bang Theory.

Biggest Winners/Losers

The record for most Grammy won in one evening is eight. The record is shared between Michael Jackson (1984) and Santana (2000).

The record for the most consecutive Grammys in the same category goes to Aretha Franklin, who won the Best Female R&B Vocal Performance award from 1968 to 1975.

The group with the most Grammys is U2, with 22.

Alison Kraus has won the most Grammys as a female artist with 27. Beyonce has 23 wins.

Only two artists have won the four “General Field” awards. The first was Christopher Cross in 1981, followed by Adele in 2012. Only seven artists have won Record, Album, and Song of the Year in one night, including Eric Clapton in 1993, Dixie Chicks in 2007, and Bruno Mars in 2018. Adele is the only person to have done it twice — once in 2012, and again in 2017.

Producer Quincy Jones leads the way with most Grammy nominations with 80. Paul McCartney has 78, followed by Jay Z with 77. The most nominations in one night is 12. That record is shared between Michael Jackson (1984) and Babyface (1997).

Artists who have never picked up a Grammy include Brian McKnight, Snoop Dogg, Martina McBride, Dierks Bentley, Katy Perry, and Diana Ross.

Not so Fast…

For a brief time in 1990, one of the biggest acts in the world was R&B duo Milli Vanilli. The pair had a string of number one hits that included ‘Girl You Know It’s True,’ ‘Baby Don’t Forget My Number,’ and ‘Blame it on the Rain.’ Naturally, they won the Grammy for Best New Artist. Unfortunately, it was too good to be true. It soon came to light that the neither Rob Pilatus nor Fab Morvan sang on their album. The lip-syncing scandal was enough for the Recording Academy to rescind their Grammy. To date, it is still the only time this has happened.

Upsets and Controversies

The Grammys have always been controversial. Some have accused the Grammys and the voting process of being racist. Back in 1989 DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince (Will Smith) boycotted the show because the award for Best Rap Performance (which they won) was not televised.

There have also been many upset victories. This includes:

  • 1967: Frank Sinatra wins Album of the Year for A Man and His Music over The Beatles’ Revolver.
  • 1979: A Taste of Honey wins Best New Artist over both Elvis Costello and The Cars.
  • 1989: Jethro Tull wins the first Grammy for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance over Metallica.
  • 2001: Steely Dan wins Album of the Year, beating Radiohead, Eminem, Beck, and Paul Simon.
  • 2011: Esperanza Spalding wins Best New Artist over Drake, Justin Bieber, Florence and the Machine, and Mumford & Sons.
  • 2015: Beck beats Beyoncé for Album of the Year. Kanye West once again protested, although he didn’t make a scene like he did when Taylor Swift beat Beyoncé at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards for Best Female Video.

Be sure to catch the Grammys on TV this Sunday, starting at 7 p.m.

push icon
Be the first to read breaking stories. Enable push notifications on your device. Disable anytime.
No thanks