Latin Grammy Award - History

History

The Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences was formed by the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences in 1997. It was founded by Michael Greene and Producers & Songwriters Rudy Pérez & Mauricio Abaroa. Rudy Perez was the Grammy Florida chapter"s first President of the Board. In 2000, it was announced that the 1st Annual Latin Grammy Awards would take place at the Staples Center on September 13, 2000. On July 7, 2000, the nominations were announced in Miami, Florida, USA. The first telecast took place at the Staples Center and was broadcast. The following year's show was canceled due to the September 11, 2001 attacks, which was the same day the show was to take place. In 2002, the academy elected its first independent Board of Trustees. In 2005, the broadcast was moved from CBS to Univision where the whole telecast was in Spanish. Voting members live in various regions in the US and outside of the US in regions such as Latin America. To be eligible a recording must have been recorded in Spanish or Portuguese. The eligibility period is July 1 to June 30 for a respective awards ceremony. Recording are first entered and are reviewed to determine which awards they are eligible for. Following that nominating ballots are mailed to voting member of the academy. The votes are tabulated and the five recordings in each category with the most votes become the nominees. Final voting ballots are sent to voting members and the winners are determined. Winners are later announced at the Latin Grammy Awards. The current President & CEO of the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences is Gabriel Abaroa. who is related to Mauricio, one of the founders.

In 2008, it was held in Houston, TX, USA, the only time outside New York, LA, Las Vegas, or Miami.