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(NEXSTAR) – The 68th Grammy Awards are set to take place this Sunday, showcasing a fierce competition among top artists like Kendrick Lamar, Lady Gaga, and Bad Bunny, all vying for the prestigious music honor.
Much like the Oscar statuette, the Grammy trophy is instantly recognizable, despite being less valuable than some dollar store items. Its iconic design has remained largely unchanged since the awards’ inception in the 1950s.
In recent years, the Grammy trophy has been famously brandished by artists such as Billie Eilish, Lady Gaga, and Kendrick Lamar, each celebrating their triumphant wins with handfuls of these awards.
But what’s the story behind the trophy’s distinctive look?
Slideshow: Previous Grammy Award winners
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Kendrick Lamar poses in the press room with the award for record of the year, best rap performance, best rap song, best music video and song of the year during the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP) -
FILE – In this Jan. 26, 2020 file photo, Billie Eilish poses in the press room with the awards for best album and best pop vocal album for “We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?”, best song and record for “Bad Guy” and best new artist at the 62nd annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File) -
FILE – This Feb. 10, 2019 file photo shows Lady Gaga in the press room with her awards for best pop solo performance for “Joanne (Where Do You Think You’re Goin’?)” and best pop duo/group performance and best song written for visual media for “Shallow” at the 61st annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File) -
FILE – Sabrina Carpenter poses in the press room with the award for best pop solo performance, and best pop vocal album during the 67th annual Grammy Awards on Feb. 2, 2025, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File) -
FILE – Comedian Steve Martin holds the Grammy Award which he won for Best Comedy Recording for the album “A Wild And Crazy Guy,” in Los Angeles on Feb. 15, 1979. Martin is the subject of a new documentary “Steve! (Martin) a Documentary in 2 Pieces.” (AP Photo/Lennox McLendon, File) -
FILE – Grammy Awards are displayed at the Grammy Museum Experience at Prudential Center in Newark, N.J. on Oct. 10, 2017. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez, File)
The answer traces back to the very first Grammy Awards ceremony.
Held in 1959, the show’s winners included Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, The Champs and their iconic song, “Tequila,” and numerous others.
The show was originally considered the Gramophone Awards, a nod to once-popular music player, but reporting from the time shows it was already being referred to as the Grammy Awards.
Before the gramophone, though, was the phonograph. Invented by Thomas Edison in 1877, the phonograph became “the first machine that could capture sound and play it back,” according to the National Park Service (you can find Thomas Edison National Historical Park in New Jersey).
Ten years later, Emil Berliner invented the gramophone, which relied on flat discs to play sound back rather than a tin-foil wrapped cylinder like Edison’s phonograph. This would lead to the development of records, which could be used to send a “spoken letter” – or one of the earliest “voice mail,” if you will.
The next step, of course, was music.
There was a suggestion to call the Grammy Award the “Eddie,” as a tribute to Edison’s contribution to recorded music with the phonograph, according to the Los Angeles Film School. “Grammy,” inspired by the gramophone, won out in a mail-in contest and has stuck ever since.
Bob Graves is credited with casting the first Grammy mold in his garage in 1958. His neighbor, John Billings, took over the task in 1983, earning him the title, “The GRAMMY Man.” Since 1991, the statuette has been based on Billings’ design, which debuted in 1991.
The Grammy Awards say Billings and his crew in Ridgway, Colorado, handmake each trophy (roughly 600 to 800 are needed annually), which costs nearly $800 each. They’re made of “a secret zinc alloy” known as “Grammium” and plated in 24-karat gold.
The 5-pound gramophone will appear on one of two bases: black, for the Grammy Awards, and burgundy for the Latin Grammy Awards.
Billings and his team may be tasked with making the awards, but that doesn’t mean they know who won before you. Billings previously explained that, after the ceremony, he gets a list of the winners. He then engraves the necessary nameplates and sends them to the winners to attach to their piece (or pieces).
To find out who wins the next slew of Grammy Awards, you’ll have to tune in to the main show, which will air live on CBS beginning at 8 p.m. Eastern on Feb. 1.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.