Grammys postponed indefinitely amid Omicron surge

Variety

The 64th Grammy Awards, set for Jan. 31 on CBS with Trevor Noah as host, is the latest big TV event delayed due to the surge in the Omicron variant of COVID-19. A new date hasn't been announced. This is the second straight year that the Grammys have been postponed due to the pandemic. "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," reports Variety's Jem Aswad. "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." In a joint statement, CBS and the Recording Academy said: “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.”