by John Downey '23 on February 10, 2022
A&E Co-Editor
Arts & Entertainment
Olivia Riportella ’25
The 64th Grammy Awards have officially been postponed due to concerns about recent COVID-19 surges. Music’s Biggest Night was originally set to take place on Jan. 31, 2022, in Downtown Los Angeles at the Crypto.com Arena, formerly known as the Staples Center. However, the significant increase in COVID-19 cases over the past month led health and safety experts, state officials, and the artistic community to make the difficult decision to postpone the show. This does not come as a surprise, as many shows with in-person elements have been canceled or postponed nationally in recent weeks.
However, the Academy has updated the terms of the show as of Jan. 18, with a new, exciting location: the 64th Grammy Awards will now take place in the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas on Sunday, April 3.
The 2021 Grammys were also forced to postpone and ended up being a drastically scaled-down virtual show, with minimal live performances and most Grammy Week events canceled. Regardless of the fact that the 2022 Grammys have been forced to make similar adjustments, the Recording Academy and its joint partner CBS have stated that they still “look forward to celebrating Music’s Biggest Night,” and are hoping for a full show with a live audience on this defining night for the music industry.
Indeed, due to current COVID-19 trends, many Grammy Week Events canceled last year have been canceled this year as well. The annual Pre-Gala event hosted by Clive Davis and the Recording Academy, for instance, will not take place. However, some other Grammy week activities, such as the Person of the Year Gala set to honor Joni Mitchell, will go on. The Gala will take place in Las Vegas.
The 64th Grammy Awards will be hosted by Trevor Noah of the Emmy Award-winning broadcast program The Daily Show. This will mark Noah’s second consecutive year as the master of ceremonies after receiving high praise for his performance hosting of the 63rd annual show. Jesse Collins, Ben Winston, and Raj Kapoor will serve as executive producers, with Kapoor taking over for Winston as this year’s showrunner.
The Recording Academy has already released its star-studded list of nominees in all 86 categories. Leading the pack with 11 nominations in total is Jon Batiste, the soulful artist who serves as the bandleader on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” Justin Bieber (eight), Doja Cat (eight), H.E.R (eight), Olivia Rodrigo (seven), and Billie Eilish (seven) all trail closely behind with multiple nominations to their names. Notably, Rodrigo has secured herself a spot in all four of the Grammys’ top categories: Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist.
Despite the ongoing difficulties that the Grammy Awards are facing, the ceremony still promises to make for a fantastic show. Indeed, the Recording Academy and CBS are working hard to deliver an unforgettable night for the artistic community and those streaming the event from the comfort of their homes.