This year’s Grammy Awards ceremony was postponed because of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant across the world.
The event was expected to take place at an arena in downtown Los Angeles on Jan. 31.
“Given the uncertainty surrounding the Omicron variant, holding the show on January 31 simply contains too many risks,” CBS and the Recording Academy said in a joint statement.
The organizers will set a new date for the international ceremony, the statement reads.
The organizers also announced nominations for the awards in November. Pianist and bandleader Jon Batiste led a field that spanned rap to jazz music and embraced newcomers from teen pop sensation Olivia Rodrigo to veteran crooner Tony Bennett, 95, who won his first Grammy in 1963.
The 2021 Grammy Awards also were postponed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The ceremony took place in March instead of January. It included a mix of pre-recorded and live segments in front of a small, socially distanced crowd.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has earlier warned of ‘tsunami’ of COVID cases in the near future. The declaration was due to Omicron spread.
The WHO further warned of the risk posed by the Omicron variant after COVID-19 case numbers shot up by 11 percent globally last week.
Omicron is behind the rapid virus spikes, the WHO said in its COVID weekly epidemiological update on Wednesday.
