For the second year in a row, the Grammy Awards have been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The 64th annual ceremony, which was set for Jan. 31 in Los Angeles, will be rescheduled, according to a joint statement Wednesday from the Recording Academy and CBS, as the Omicron variant has led to an increase in cases across the country. . The new date will be announced shortly, the statement said, noting: “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’s show was postponed by six weeks as the number of cases peaked and before vaccinations were widely available. Last week, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci, President Biden’s chief medical adviser, said the latest wave of the pandemic could peak in the United States in late January.
This year, composer and bandleader Jon Batiste has 11 Grammy nominations, more than any other artist, and will compete for both album and record of the year. Other top nominees include Olivia Rodrigo, Justin Bieber, Billie Eilish and Doja Cat. No artists have been announced yet.
In November, the Recording Academy, the organization behind the awards, made an unusual last-minute change to the nomination process. Just 24 hours before the nominations were announced, the group voted to expand voting in the top four categories — album, record and song of the year, and best new artist — to 10 places, from eight, a move Taylor Swift made. benefited, Kanye West, Lil Nas X and others. Two weeks later, Drake, who had been nominated for two Grammys but had long been ambivalent about the awards, withdrew from the competition.