The Grammy Awards event, which honors the best musical performances, has been postponed indefinitely due to the rapid spread of the Omicron type of the coronavirus, according to organizers.
The performance was supposed to be held in a downtown Los Angeles arena on January 31 and live streamed on the CBS network.
“Given the uncertainty surrounding the Omicron variant, holding the show on January 31 simply contains too many risks,” CBS and the Recording Academy said in a joint statement, adding that a new date would be announced soon.
Nominations for the awards were announced in November. Pianist and bandleader Jon Batiste led a field that spanned rap to jazz music and embraced newcomers from teen pop sensation Olivia Rodrigo to veteran crooner Tony Bennett, 95, who won his first Grammy in 1963.
Pakistani singer Arooj Aftab also secured a place on the nominations list and was the first Pakistani woman to do so. She was nominated in the Best New Artist category alongside Rodrigo, FINNEAS and others.
The Grammy Awards for 2021 have also been postponed because to the Covid-19 pandemic. The ceremony was held in March rather than January, with a combination of pre-recorded and live pieces performed in front of a small, socially distant crowd.
This year’s organizers wanted to return to a more conventional celebration with a huge audience inside the former Staples Center, now known as Crypto.com Arena. Trevor Noah, a late-night television presenter, was chosen to host the event.
