Dance music has had an interesting time spent with the Grammys. From being seen as a fad to helping bolster the Grammy resumes of a number of pop acts, dance music's rough ride through Grammy waters has seen an upswing over the last few years due to EDM's rise in America. And while it the Grammys is surely not the end all/be all when it comes to defining what dance music is in America, it can make a huge impact on what mainstream America sees as "viable" electronic music.
One can trace dance music's time at the Grammys and see love/hate relationship that this country has had with dance music. And that's not by just looking at the winners and losers; take a look at some of the things you didn't know about dance music at in the Grammys.
It took a while for the Grammys to consider dance music "music"
There has only been one Grammy for Best Disco Recording ever awarded
Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive" won the Best Disco Recording Grammy in 1980, but after the great disco backlash, they did not bring it back in 1981.
Donna Summer and Giorgio Moroder won the first ever Best Dance Recording Grammy in 1998
They won for "Carry On." Interestingly enough, this song actually came out in 1992 on Moroder's Forever Dancing album. It was remixed and turned into an international hit in 1997, hitting #25 on the U.S. Dance charts. That year, "Carry On" beat out Daft Punk's "Da Funk" and "Space Jam" by the Quad City DJs.
Justin Timberlake has won just as many Grammys for Best Dance Recording as Skrillex has
Skrillex and the Chemical Brothers have the same number of Best Dance/Electronic Album wins
The Best Dance Recording award has gone to a lot of pop stars
Albums considered for the Best Dance/Electronica Album category must have at least 51% electronic music on it
Madonna was the first solo singer to win the Best Electronic/Dance Album Grammy
Gloria Estefan is the Susan Lucci of the Best Dance Recording Grammy award
The works that would net Best Remixed Recording nominations weren't mentioned until 2002
