Colorado Artist Busy Making Grammy Statues

RIDGWAY, Colo. (CBS4)- An artist in Ridgway is busy making the trophies for Sunday's Grammy Awards.

John Billings is often called the "Grammy Man." He makes each trophy by hand, one at a time.

Statues for other award shows are often carved by machine or outsourced overseas.

It takes more than 15 hours to make a single Grammy. It takes Billings about a year to make 600 trophies.

Billings, 72, grew up in Los Angeles and apprenticed for Bob Graves, who crafted the very first Grammy statue in 1959. On his deathbed in 1983, Graves passed on his legacy.

"He asked me to promise that I would not let another company get the Grammy awards, that I would keep them," said Billings.

Each Grammy starts with the base and then 650 degree molten mix of metals is hand-poured into a custom mold.

It solidifies almost instantly into the phonograph shape that is the Grammy.

Watch the 59th annual Grammy Awards on CBS4 at 6 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12.