2022 Grammy Awards Postponed Indefinitely Due to COVID Surge

A statement by the Recording Academy left the music community speechless following the announcement of the postponement of the Annual GRAMMY Awards show.

In response to combating COVID-19 and the ongoing surges, CBS Network and the Recording Academy have deemed that continuing the show with the January 31 date renders too much risk. This cause for health concerns included audience members, music artists’, and those related to the production of the upcoming awards show.

Following these concerns, the Recording Academy and CBS released a joint statement on Wednesday, January 5, 2022: 

“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 statement continues, “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 remain our top priority. Given the uncertainty surrounding the Omicron variant, holding the show on January 31 contains too many risks.” 

Amidst this statement, the 2022 Grammys Awards show was initially held in Los Angeles, California. However, California has been experiencing vast COVID-19 spikes like much of the nation.

On Tuesday alone, 21,790 people in Los Angeles County tested positive for COVID-19, according to the LA County Public Health office, while 2,000+ individuals were hospitalized.

Because of the heightened COVID and Omicron variant surges, like in 2021, the 2022 Annual Grammys awards have been postponed for the second year in a row.

Unfortunately, much is left to the unknown, given the ongoing pandemic and surges.

The complete nominations list for the Annual GRAMMYS awards was announced on November 23, 2021. The list represented projects between September 1, 2020, and September 30, 2021, for artists with categories such as Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and more. The nominee’s list included musical talents like Justin Bieber, H.E.R, Jay-Z, and BTS.

The Daily Show host Trevor Noah was set to reprise their role at the 2022 Annual Grammy awards after hosting the 2021 63rd annual show. The 2021 Grammys awards show was held outside the Staples Center in Los Angeles to allow social distancing protection for musical guests, creatives, and artists in March.

Following hosting the 2021 show, Noah mentioned, “I was just lucky to be a part of it, you know,” Noah said on CBS Mornings, “And I guess we had such a good time that we were like, imagine we had people there how much more fun would we have had, and so this year the Grammys is going to be back.”

The 2022 show would have been the first year that winners are chosen directly by votes from the Recording Academy members. In 2021, the Recording Academy announced it would stop using anonymous review committees following backlash from significant artists.

The later date for the 64th Annual Grammys Awards show has yet to be announced.