The Grammy Awards have been postponed because of COVID-19 concerns.
The ceremony was due to be hosted by Trevor Noah in Los Angeles on January 31, but the event has now been pushed back amid the recent spike in COVID cases in the US.
A joint statement from the Recording Academy and CBS explained: “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.”
The organizers explained that the recent spike in COVID cases and the threat posed by the Omicron variant posed “too many risks”.
The statement continued: “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.”
The Grammys was set to be an in-person event on January 31 – but there were already a number of COVID-related safety measures in place.
Jon Batiste leads the list of nominees, with 11 nods in total, including in the Record Of The Year, Album Of The Year and Best Music Video categories.
Elsewhere, Justin Bieber, Doja Cat, and H.E.R. have eight nominations each, while Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo both have seven nominations.
The decision to postpone the Grammys was announced shortly after the organizers of the Sundance Film Festival confirmed that this year’s event will be moving online due to COVID concerns.
A statement on Twitter explained: “Despite ambitious protocols, the Omicron variant with its unexpectedly high transmissibility rates is pushing the limits of health safety, travel and other infrastructures. Thus, #Sundance 2022’s in-person Utah elements will be moving online. (sic)”
