The 64th annual Grammy Awards may be moving to a new date following a surge in COVID-19 cases due to the Omicron variant. The ceremony, which will be hosted by Trevor Noah, is scheduled to take place on January 31 at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena.
Billboard reports that the Recording Academy is seriously considering postponing the show, with a source with direct knowledge telling the outlet it is “looking likely” it will happen.
Should the Academy move the date, this will mark the second year in a row the Grammy Awards had to change its schedule. Last year, the ceremony was moved from January 31 to March 14 because of 2021’s winter surge in coronavirus cases.
It’s unknown when or if this year’s ceremony will also move to the spring; as of Monday afternoon, the Academy has not returned an ABC News request for comment. Should the Grammy Awards be postponed this year, the Academy’s MusiCares gala and the Pre-Grammy Gala, which are respectively set for January 29 and 30th, will likely also be rescheduled.
Currently, federal data reports more than 100,000 people are hospitalized in the U.S. for COVID-19. Johns Hopkins University reports that new, daily infections in the U.S. also reached an all-time high on Friday after 386,000 people tested positive for the virus.
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