2022 Grammy Awards ceremony has been postponed due to the coronavirus, the Recording Academy confirmed on Wednesday, as COVID-19 cases fueled by the virus’ omicron variant continue to spike in Los Angeles.
Organizers of the award, The Recording Academy in a statement said that going on with the show on its original date, January 31, “contains too many risks” due to the “uncertainty surrounding the omicron variant”, but will be rescheduled for a future date.
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The award ceremony were set to take place at the Crypto.com Arena – formerly known as the Staples Center – which is located in Los Angeles, one of the cities experiencing a huge surge in COVID-19 cases.
The statement said;
After careful consideration and analysis with city and state officials, health and safety experts, the artist community and our many partners, the Recording Academy and CBS have postponed the 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards Show.
The health and safety of those in our music community, the live audience, and the hundreds of people who work tirelessly to produce our show remains our top priority. Given the uncertainty surrounding the Omicron variant, holding the show on January 31 simply contains too many risks.
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Nominations for the awards were announced on November 23 and were chosen from projects released between September 1, 2020, and September 30, 2021.
Jon Batiste leads the pack with 11 total nominations, with Justin Bieber and R&B artist H.E.R tying in second with eight nominations. Rapper Jay-Z became the most nominated artist in the show’s history, with 83 nods, after getting three nominations.
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Meanwhile, Los Angeles County reported 21,790 new Covid-19 cases on Tuesday, up 24% from the week before, according to the county’s COVID-19 tracker.
Some artists and music executives have voiced concerns about rising coronavirus cases and asked the Academy to postpone the event, sources told Variety.
Though last year’s show was postponed from January 31 to March 14, COVID-19 precautions still had to be taken, including holding the ceremony outdoors, socially distancing audience members and requiring nominees to wear masks.
The Recording Academy hasn’t released an official plan yet for the 2022 award ceremony, though Daily Show host, Trevor Noah will be back to host the ceremony.
COVID-19 surge has also postponed other award shows in Los Angeles including the Critics Choice Awards and Academy Governors Awards, which were scheduled for January.
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Golden Globes will take place as planned on January 9, though it has pared down its ceremony, going on without a red carpet or audience.
Recall that the Recording Academy delayed last year’s show by about six weeks, after COVID-19 cases began to dip in Los Angeles.
However, it is unclear how the new omicron variant will continue to fuel cases in the upcoming months.
