Grammy Awards Officially Postponed
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Loading... - Jennifer Wood
- 06 Jan 2022
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As expected, the Grammy Awards have been postponed due to coronavirus-related concerns, an Academy spokesperson has confirmed to Variety. No new date has been confirmed as of yet.
While the 2022 show had been moving full speed ahead to take place on Jan. 31 before a full audience at its traditional venue, the Crypto.com Arena (formerly known as the Staples Center) in downtown Los Angeles, the recent Covid-19 surge has caused the postponement or cancellation of multiple events across the country. Sources tell Variety that even though the Crypto.com Arena has a basketball or hockey game or a concert booked nearly every night until mid-April, enough artists and executives voiced reluctance about appearing to convince the Academy to postpone the show.
Sources close to the situation also tell Variety that the show will probably move to April or May, which would seem to rule out holding it at the Crypto.com Arena. The Grammys traditionally require a 10-day-plus lockout of the venue in which they are held, and according to the Crypto.com Arena’s schedule, another such opening will not be available at that venue until June or even later, although a scaled-down show is a possibility. The sources added that a rumored move to the Hollywood Bowl also seems unlikely for logistical reasons; holding the event in a different major city — such as Las Vegas, where the Latin Grammys have been held six of the last eight years, including last November — is also a possibility.
A joint statement from the Recording Academy and its television partner, CBS, issued on Wednesday reads: “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 31st simply contains too many risks. We look forward to celebrating Music’s Biggest Night on a future date, which will be announced soon.”
Grammy Week events, such as the MusiCares Person of the Year concert, honoring Joni Mitchell, are likely to move to the week before the new date as well, along with other events around the show. The Clive Davis Pre-Grammy Gala, feting Sony Music chief Rob Stringer, plans to move to the night before the rescheduled Grammy ceremony, a rep for the show tells Variety.
“The Daily Show’s” Trevor Noah is still scheduled to return as Grammy host this year. Read More…
