Grammy Grub

The Prized Grammy Award

I am sad to be missing  the Grammy Awards, a joyful celebration of music, which are playing on television at this very moment.  But what may seem like an ode to all the winners of the music industry, (which it kind of is), has a history that contradicts that idea- the Grammy Awards began as a celebration of all those people who did not win.

Let me back up for a moment. The Hollywood Walk of Fame, which honors top musicians with stars on Hollywood Boulevard was in the midst of being created in the 1950s. It took a while to actually build those first stars and figure out all the legal stuff, but the first stars were placed in 1960. Somewhere between 2 to 4 years before that, the concept of the Grammy Awards was created. The people in charge of choosing who would win the stars on the Walk Of Fame wanted to honor everyone that could not be given a star. So now we have the Grammys, or a celebration of second place.

This concept of honoring people who are not good enough seems quite unAmerican to me. The United States is full of competition everywhere, from politics, to our capitalist economy, to our higher education system. I find it very refreshing to see an American tradition that honors not just the winners. But where else in America are the runners up looked up to and applauded? And why don't we appreciate everyone's success, not just the number 1s?