Due to the recent surge of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, the GRAMMY Awards will be postponed for the second year in a row, CBS News reports.
In a joint statement on Wednesday, the Recording Academy and CBS announced that the 64th annual ceremony, which had been set for Jan. 31 in Los Angeles, will be rescheduled to a later date.
"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 joint statement read. “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.” Last year, the annual awards ceremony was postponed for six weeks as Covid cases spiked during the height of the pandemic and before vaccinations were widely available to the public.
The main ceremony is annuallyheld in downtown Los Angeles, at the Crypto.com Arena, formerly known as the Staples Center. Last year, the event took place at the Los Angeles Convention Center and was largely outdoors. That show was hosted by Trevor Noah, who is set to return for the second consecutive time.
At this year's award show, Jon Batiste leads all nominees with 11 total nominations, with Justin Bieber and R&B star H.E.R coming in second with eight nominations. Jay-Z became the most nominated artist in GRAMMY award history, with 83 nods, after getting three more nominations.
The new date for the awards show has not been announced.
