Cover The talented Larry Ramos is hardly a household name, but he remains the first person of Asian descent to win a Grammy (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
The talented Larry Ramos is hardly a household name, but he remains the first person of Asian descent to win a Grammy (Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
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The unassuming Filipino musician may also be the first person of Asian descent to be nominated
When talking about Filipinos who’ve conquered the international stage, Lea Salonga, Rachelle Ann Go, Apl de Ap and Arnel Pineda are some of the names people bandy about. Hilario “Larry” Ramos Jr. is hardly a household name in contemporary circles, but he will forever remain the first person of Asian descent to win a Grammy.
Larry Ramos was born in Waimea, Hawaii, to Larry Ramos Sr. and Pat Ramos. The older Ramos taught him to play the ukelele at four and won several contests—with one allowing him to play in the Arthur Godfrey Show. By the time he was eight, he sang and played the ukelele for the Esther Williams’ film Pagan Love Song. When he was 13, he was understudy to Patrick Adiarte, who was also of Filipino descent, for the role of the crown prince of Thailand in The King and I, headlined by Yul Brynner. After he was promoted to the principal cast, his mother pulled him out to prioritise his schooling.
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Ramos joined the New Christy Minstrels as a vocalist and banjoist in 1962. One year later, the folk music group won Best Performance by a Chorus for their album Presenting the New Christy Minstrels at the 5th Grammy Awards. The band enjoyed seven other nominations that night. And, with nominations not well-documented during the early history of the awards show, Ramos may be potentially the first Asian to be nominated ever.
Though the folk revival of the 1960s saw many acts fade into obscurity, the group’s success, with Ramos’ involvement, helped lay the groundwork for the folk-pop explosion that followed. He left the band in 1966 after the birth of his twin daughters, and made ends meet as a studio musician. He also recorded a solo single during this time.
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In 1967, he became part of The Association, a band known for its polished harmonies and sunshine pop sound. The stories of how he joined differ. According to Ramos, he went to their concert and was asked to be a last-minute replacement for a guitarist who injured his finger. Ramos had to learn the band’s chords two hours prior to the performance. During his time with The Association, the band released some of their biggest hits, including “Windy” and “Never My Love,” which are staples of the era.
Ramos passed away in 2014, but his quiet life and even quieter accomplishments signalled that the world was ready to celebrate Asian-American musicians. After him, Hawaiian-born Japanese-Irish musician Yvonne Marianne Elliman recorded “If I Can’t Have You,” which was part of the Album of the Year-winning Saturday Night Fever soundtrack. In 1983, Chinese prodigy Yo-Yo Ma started his 18-win streak for classical music.
Soon, the half-Indonesian Van Halen brothers won Best Hard Rock Performance with Vocal. Then there’s Kitaro, Cuong Vu and many others. Artists like Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park, H.E.R. and Bruno Mars—all Grammy winners of Asian descent—should tip their caps to pioneers like Ramos, who proved that Asian-American artists could thrive in mainstream Western music.
