Organizers of the Grammy Awards are considering postponing this year’s event in Los Angeles, according to a person familiar with the matter, due to the spread of the Omicron variant. The Recording Academy, which runs the music industry’s annual awards, hadn’t yet reached a decision Monday morning, according to this person, reports The Wall Street Journal.
The Grammys, slated for Jan. 31, were also postponed last year due to Covid-19, from the end of January to mid-March. The show was also moved from its traditional venue at the Staples Center—since renamed Crypto.com Arena—to the Los Angeles Convention Center to allow for the slimmed-down guest list to space out. The Recording Academy is a nonprofit and relies on people paying top-dollar for tickets to the show as a significant source of income.
Two other big-ticket events attached to the Grammys—the MusiCares gala and the Clive Davis/Recording Academy’s Pre-Grammy Gala—would likely also move if the awards show is postponed.
Kicking off the year with a postponement of “music’s biggest night” would mark the latest setback for a live entertainment industry still reeling from the devastation of worker shortages, outbreaks canceling shows already complicated by vaccine and testing mandates, and empty seats from no-shows. While concert executives for much of last year pointed to the success of outdoor festivals and fans’ eagerness to snap up tickets for future events, the quick spread of Omicron casts a potential shadow over their long-held sentiment that 2022 will be the biggest year ever for live events and a return to normalcy for the entertainment industry at large.
Some executives say they are optimistic that Omicron, whose symptoms appear to be relatively mild, will burn out quickly while advancing herd immunity, helping pave the way for a return to more normalcy. But some major acts that were contemplating tour dates for this year are now looking to 2023, according to one executive.
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