As Omicron cases continue to rise, the 64th Grammy Awards have been postponed indefinitely.
The 2022 televised event was set to take place on January 31 with a packed audience at its traditional venue (Crypto.com Arena) in downtown Los Angeles. However, the ongoing Covid-19 surge has led the event to be postponed.
After careful consideration and analysis with city and state officials, health and safety experts, the artist community and our many partners, we have postponed the 64th #GRAMMYs. https://t.co/oMzV1U9Tsc
— Recording Academy / GRAMMYs (@RecordingAcad) January 5, 2022
A statement released by Recording Academy and its television partner, C.B.S., today reads: “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. We look forward to celebrating Music’s Biggest Night on a future date, which will be announced soon.”
Among the 2022 Grammy-nominated artists is Jon Batiste has received the most nominations, with 11 nods. Doja Cat, H.E.R, and Justin Bieber have eight nominations each. Olivia Rodrigo and Billie Elish also gathered loads of nominations.
Last year’s show was also scheduled for January 31 before being postponed. The 2021 show took place six weeks later, on March 14.
A spike in cases was expected since many people traveled during the holiday season last year as well as this year. However, according to a new study from the University of Hong Kong, Omicron, the new dominant variant multiplies 70 times faster than the Delta variant.
The 2021 Grammy show was a much more scaled-down event and took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center instead. They had small rotating groups of nominees, which switched every 45 minutes. The 2021 show also featured a combination of live and pre-recorded performances from stars like B.T.S, Megan Thee Stallion, Taylor Swift, Harry Styles, and Cardi B, among others.
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