The Recording Academy is likely to postpone the 64th annual Grammy Awards, originally set for Jan. 31 at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, to a later date due to the omicron variant, according to multiple sources. A source with direct knowledge says it’s “looking likely.”
This would be the second year in a row that the Grammys have been postponed due to COVID-19. Last year’s show was originally set for Jan. 31, 2021, but on Jan. 5, 2021, it was delayed to March 14 due to a spike in COVID-19 cases in Los Angeles. At that time, the show was also relocated from Staples Center (the former name of Crypto.com Arena) to the nearby Los Angeles Convention Center, which allowed for less crowding.
Trevor Noah, host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show With Trevor Noah, hosted last year’s show and is also set to host this year’s show.
The Recording Academy is known to prefer to hold the show in an arena at full capacity since they get considerable ticket revenue. They would lose that if they hold a scaled-back show like they did last year.
The MusiCares gala, set for Jan. 29 at the Los Angeles Convention Center, and Clive Davis and the Recording Academy’s Pre-Grammy Gala, set Jan. 30 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif., would also move under this scenario. Joni Mitchell is set to be Person of the Year at the MusiCares gala. Rob Stringer, Sony Music Group chairman, is set to receive the 2022 Grammy Salute to Industry Icons award at the Pre-Grammy Gala.
A Recording Academy spokesman emphasized that no decision has been made and urged caution against speculation set off by an unnamed source.
The telecast will be produced by Fulwell 73 Productions for the Recording Academy. Ben Winston, Jesse Collins and Raj Kapoor are executive producers; Kapoor also serves as showrunner. Jeannae Rouzan Clay joins the team as co-executive producer.
Hamish Hamilton, who succeeded Louis J. Horvitz as director last year, is set to return as director for the second year.
This year’s Grammy nominations were announced on Nov. 23, 2021. Jon Batiste is the top nominee with 11 nods, followed by Doja Cat, H.E.R., and Justin Bieber with eight nods each. This year marks the first time that the Grammys have had 10 nominees in each of their so-called Big Four categories — album, record and song of the year plus best new artist.
This story is developing.