HBCU Sports recently named North Carolina A&T's marching band—the Blue and Gold Marching Machine—its 2021 Band of the Year.
The decision was made via polling, and internet users could cast votes on the site between Jan. 14 and 21.
Participants were able to choose between North Carolina A&T, Jackson State, Florida A&M, Southern, and Alabama State, and the Aggies wound up coming out on top. The Blue and Gold Marching Machine received just over half of the votes (50.81%, or 223,329 votes).
— BGMM (@B_GMM) January 22, 2022
This is notably the third time that the Blue and Gold Marching Machine has won the title of HBCU Sports Band of the Year under the leadership of Dr. Kenneth Ruff, a North Carolina A&T alumnus who joined the program in 2014. Resultingly, the university has the honor of being HBCU Sports' 2017, 2018, and 2021 Band of the Year. — HBCU Sports is making a $2,500 donation to North Carolina A&T's band program.
This news comes on the heels of other recent achievements for the Blue and Gold Marching Machine, such as being recognized on numerous occasions for their jaw-dropping halftime shows this past year.
North Carolina A&T's band program kicked off back in 1918, about nine years after the university hired its first music director. At one point, the school's band program was the only one of its kind at a North Carolina-based Black university, and it continued to grow in prominence until it became known as the Blue and Gold Marching Machine around 1980.
As we can see, this Greensboro-based band is quite the force to be reckoned with, and we'll be watching as the Blue and Gold Marching Machine continues to do great things.
