11 Things You Never Knew About The Grammys But Will Surprise You!

This year’s Grammys ceremony was the 58^th Grammys ceremony and saw many of the biggest names in music honored for their achievements. There are lots of things you might not know about the biggest awards ceremony in music, and here are 11 of them.

1. Categories

Over the years the number of categories has fluctuated – at one point there were over 100 categories! Back when the Grammys first started, there were only 28 categories, which seems like hardly any to the number there are today.

2. Most honored solo artist

Stevie Wonder remains to this day the most honored solo artist, having won 28 Grammys, plus a Lifetime Achievement award.

3. Most awarded group

U2 are the most awarded group, with a total of 22 wins over the course of their musical career to date.

4. Refusing an award

Sinead O’Connor famously passed on the chance to receive an award for Best Alternative Music Performance for her album I Do Not Want What I Haven’t Got in 1990. She didn’t attend the ceremony the year she ended up winning and later explained the disagreed with the ceremony’s commercialism.

5. First live telecast

Though the first Grammy Awards ceremony was held in 1959, the first ceremony to be broadcast live was the 1971 ceremony.

6. Elvis’ Grammys

Elvis actually won three Grammys, believe it or not. They were all in the Gospel category and can be viewed at Graceland.

7. Most nominations without winning

Brian McKnight has earned a total of 16 Grammy nominations, yet to this day he hasn’t won a single award.

8. Statuette origins

The ceremony was originally known as The Gramophone Awards as back then people would listen to music through gramophones. An alternative name that was considered was the Eddies, named after Thomas Edison, who invented the phonograph.

9. Making the Grammys

It takes anything from 15 to 20 hours to make a Grammy statuette. The ones you see stars posing with on the night are placeholders; the winners get their actual, engraved Grammys delivered to them after the show’s over.

10. Acknowledging music

The Grammys was started in 1959 so musicians could get a chance to have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. At the time, there were award ceremonies for films and TV shows, so the Grammys was created to honor musicians.

11. Youngest and oldest winners

LeAnn Rimes was just 14 when she won her first Grammy and was the youngest to ever pick up an award; George Burns was 94 when he collected his, making him the oldest to ever pick up an award.