Per Forbes, The Recording Academy seems “likely” to postpone the upcoming 2022 Grammy Awards because of rising Covid-19 cases and the omicron variant, according to multiple species anonymous sources to Billboard. This would be second year in a row the ceremony was delayed because of the pandemic.
The 2022 Grammy Awards are scheduled to take place on January 31 indoors at the Crypto.com Arena—formerly the Staples Center—in Los Angeles, and are to be hosted by comedian Trevor Noah, who hosted the event in 2021.
Last year, the ceremony was also scheduled to take place on January 31 but on January 5 was postponed until March 14, according to Billboard, and was ultimately held outdoors.
The Recording Academy has not yet commented on whether or not the event is on this year.
There were 44,753 Covid-19 cases reported in Los Angeles county on Sunday where the award show is scheduled, according to county data. Los Angeles county has the highest number of Covid-19 cases in the country, according to Johns Hopkins University’s Covid-19 tracker.
The Grammys isn’t the only awards show possibly taking a step back amid the intense rise in Covid-19 cases around the country.
Last month the Critics Choice Awards and the Academy Governors Awards postponed their January ceremonies, leaving the coming awards season up in the air.
The 2022 Golden Globes awards are set to be held Jan. 9, though it’s still not clear what form they will take as NBC refused to hold the ceremony this year because of controversy surrounding the organization that holds the awards, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association. This year’s Super Bowl is also planned to take place in Los Angeles on February 13.
Musician Jon Batiste received 11 nominations this year, more than any other artist. Doja Cat, H.E.R. and Justin Bieber received 8 nods each, and other popular acts like Olivia Rodrigo and Lil Nas X are expected to receive trophies.
Pamoja by Etana, Sean Paul’s album Live N Livin, Spice’s 10, Jesse Royal’s Royal, Gramps Morgan’s Positive Vibration, and reggae band SOJA’s Beauty in the Silence are all up for Best Reggae Album
