The Blues Music Awards are presented by the Blues Foundation, a non-profit organization set up to foster the blues and their heritage. They were started by the Foundation in 1980, and are widely regarded as the highest honor for blues artists in the United States.

The awards had formerly been known as the W. C. Handy Awards (or "The Handys"), however, they were re-named in 2006 in an effort to increase public awareness of the significance of the awards .

The Awards had been presented annually in Memphis, Tennessee where the headquarters of the Blues Foundation is located in, but it was announced that the 2008 award presenting ceremony would be held in Tunica, Mississippi .