The 2022 Grammy Awards have been postponed indefinitely due to the recent surge in COVID-19 cases.
“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,” an Academy spokesperson said in a statement to Variety on Wednesday (Jan. 5). “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 31st simply contains too many risks. We look forward to celebrating Music’s Biggest Night on a future date, which will be announced soon.”
As REVOLT previously reported, the award show, which was going to be hosted by Trevor Noah, was originally scheduled to take place on Jan. 31 at the Crypto.com Arena — formerly known as the Staples Center — in Los Angeles. No new date has been confirmed as of yet, however, sources told Variety that the show will probably move to April or May.
Last year, the Grammys had a scaled-back rendition of the annual show. The March 2021 event aired two months after its initial date due to the ongoing Corornavirus pandemic.
Nominations for the 2022 Grammys were announced back in November. Jon Batiste is this year’s most-nominated artist with a whopping 11 nominations. Doja Cat and H.E.R. are the most-nominated female artists for the 2022 Grammys, each snagging eight nods. For Album of the Year, Kanye West’s newest project will face off against Lil Nas X’s Montero, Doja’s Planet Her and several other artists. The Donda rapper is now a 75-time Grammy nominee. JAY-Z earned three nods, making him the most-nominated artist in the award show’s history.