Grammy Awards Postponed, Again, Amid Coronavirus Surge

LOS ANGELES, CA — The 64th Grammy Awards ceremony became the latest victim of the coronavirus surge with the Recording Academy and CBS announcing an indefinite postponement Wednesday.

The star-studded ceremony had been slated for Jan. 31 at the Crypto.com Arena in downtown Los Angeles with Trevor Noah as host. However, Los Angeles County is experiencing tens of thousands of new coronavirus cases each day. The unprecedented surge has disrupted daily life, causing delays and cancellations in every arena from schools, sporting events and criminal trials to awards ceremonies.

In postponing the show, the Recording Academy and CBS cited "too many risks" associated with the surge in COVID-19 infections.

"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," according to a joint statement from the academy and network. "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."

It is the second consecutive year the Grammy Awards have been delayed due to COVID-19. Last year's ceremony was originally scheduled for Jan. 31, 2021, but it was pushed back to March 14, 2021. That ceremony was also originally scheduled for the downtown venue then known as Staples Center, but it was instead held largely with sparse attendance on an outdoor event deck at the Los Angeles Convention Center, with a handful of audience-free musical performances inside the venue.

Jon Batiste is the top nominee for the 64th Grammy Awards, with 11 nods, while Disney actress-turned-singer-songwriter Olivia Rodrigo has nominations in the top categories of best new artist and record, song and album of the year.

City News Service and Patch Staffer Paige Austin contributed to this report.