When will the 63rd Grammys take place? Award show postponed from January 31 amid Covid-19 surge
The 2021 Grammys, originally scheduled for January 31, have been postponed due to concerns over the spread of the coronavirus. Sources told Variety that a combination of health and travel concerns led the Recording Academy and its network partner CBS to decide to postpone the show. The news came as unions and entertainment industry groups have called to suspend in-person television and film production in Los Angeles, the show’s planned location, which has seen a spike in coronavirus cases. Several late-night shows have already moved back to remote formats.
The decision to suspend the awards cited the danger of overwhelmed hospitals. “Many hospitals have reached a point of crisis and are having to make very tough decisions about patient care,” Dr. Christina Ghaly, the LA County director of health services, told the Los Angeles Times on Monday. According to the report, following Thanksgiving and the holiday season, California set a new single-day record of 74,000 new cases on January 4.
The Country Music Association Awards held an in-person ceremony in Nashville in November 2020, with a live audience consisting mostly of the show’s performers, who were socially distanced but reportedly largely unmasked. A month after the awards, the singer Charley Pride, who was 86, died of complications from Covid-19.
When will the awards air now?
As per the New York Times, a new date for the event has been planned for March but has not been announced as of yet. The awards were scheduled to be hosted by ‘The Daily Show’ host Trevor Noah. As per Rolling Stone magazine, it was planned as a limited show for 2021, forgoing an audience completely and only allowing presenters and performers on-site during the show.
The Grammys are traditionally held at Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles and typically draw 18,000 attendees. Interim Grammy chief Harvey Mason Jr. told Variety in November that the Grammys were looking at other shows for ideas, but “It’s gonna be a show that’s different from the other awards shows that have happened at this point." “We’re going to determine as we get a little bit closer what we’re going to do with our audience, but we have some really cool and special things that are coming together for our show.”
Last year, several major awards show attempted to adapt to the pandemic. The BET Awards in June 2020, the MTV Video Music Awards in August 2020, the Billboard Music Awards in October 2020, and the Latin Grammys in November 2020 was televised without audiences, and artists appeared remotely from soundstages to perform and accept awards.
As per reports, Los Angeles County, the epicenter of the coronavirus crisis in California, has surpassed 10,000 Covid-19 deaths. The area has seen almost 40 percent of the deaths in California.
The Grammy line-up
Beyoncé has the most nominations for the ceremony, with nine in eight categories. Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa, and the rapper Roddy Ricch are among the other major contenders for the show. Brittany Howard has five nominations for her solo debut. Billie Eilish, Megan Thee Stallion, DaBaby, Phoebe Bridgers, Justin Bieber, jazz pianist John Beasley, and classical producer David Frost, have four nominations each.
