Following an up-tick in coronavirus cases in California that is forecast to continue growing, the organisers of the 2021 Grammy Awards have decided to postpone this year’s show to 14 March.
The event, originally scheduled for 31 January at the Los Angeles Staples Centre — with Trevor Noah hosting and a rumoured performance by Beyoncé and Megan Thee Stallion — was already set to have no live audience, with winners accepting their awards virtually, and only performers and presenters present at the venue.
“After thoughtful conversations with health experts, our host and artists scheduled to appear, we are rescheduling the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards to be broadcast Sunday March 14, 2021,” said Ben Winston, the Grammy’s executive producer, emphasising the strain local hospitals are currently under. “The deteriorating COVID situation in Los Angeles, with hospital services being overwhelmed, ICUs having reached capacity, and new guidance from state and local governments have all led us to conclude that postponing our show was the right thing to do. Nothing is more important than the health and safety of those in our music community and the hundreds of people who work tirelessly on producing the show.”
This year’s awards ceremony has already faced controversy due to notable nomination snubs for The Weeknd, Rina Sawayama and Halsey, alongside being called out for categories with all-white nominations. However, the ceremony has slowly begun to make an effort in addressing it’s racial and gender bias, notably with the 2021 awards seeing the removal of the racially micro-aggressive word ‘urban’ from some of it’s category names.
On a positive note though, Beyoncé is set to win big this year with nine nominations, mostly for her acclaimed visual album Black is King. Also highly nominated are Dua Lipa with her stunning sophomore album Future Nostalgia and Taylor Swift with the first part of her cottagecore fantasy, Folklore. Harry Styles, meanwhile, is likely crossing his fingers that his first ever Grammy nominations — Best Music Video for “Adore You”, Best Pop vocal Album for Fine Line and Best Pop Solo Performance for “Watermelon Sugar” — come to fruition. The biggest night in music will undoubtedly look a little different this year, and come a little later, but here’s hoping the looks will be just as iconic and the performances just as legendary.