The 64th Grammy Awards have been postponed because of a surge in the COVID-19 pandemic brought on by the omicron variant, the Recording Academy announced Wednesday in a statement.
"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 31 simply contains too many risks. We look forward to celebrating Music’s Biggest Night on a future date, which will be announced soon," the statement read.
The ceremony had been scheduled to take place on Jan. 31 at the Crypto.com Arena (formerly the Staples Center) in Los Angeles and broadcast live on CBS.
This year marks the second year in a row that the pandemic has caused the Grammys to be postponed. Last year's ceremony, also scheduled for the last day of January, was moved to March 14.
Trevor Noah, who hosted last year's ceremony, was set to return as the host again this year.
In November, the Recording Academy announced its list of 2022 Grammy nominees.
Jon Batiste leads the pack with 11 nominations, thanks to his “We Are” album and his work scoring the movie “Soul,” which already nabbed an Academy Award for best score. Justin Bieber, Doja Cat and H.E.R. were right behind Batiste with eight nods apiece, while Billie Eilish and Olivia Rodrigo each scored seven nominations.
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