The 2022 Grammy Awards, which had been scheduled for January 31, was postponed as it held "too many risks" for health and safety.
This year's Grammy Awards ceremony honouring top performances in music has been postponed indefinitely because of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
"Given the uncertainty surrounding the Omicron variant, holding the show on January 31 simply contains too many risks," the organisers said in a joint statement on Wednesday.
A new date will be announced soon according to the organisers, CBS and the Recording Academy.
The show had been scheduled to take place at an arena in downtown Los Angeles and broadcast live on the CBS network on January 31.
Organisers said they consulted local officials, health experts and artists before deciding to scrap the January date.
"The health and safety of those in our music community, the live audience and the hundreds of people who work tirelessly to produce our show remains our top priority," they said.
After careful consideration and analysis with city and state officials, health and safety experts, the artist community and our many partners, we have postponed the 64th #GRAMMYs. https://t.co/oMzV1U9Tsc
— Recording Academy / GRAMMYs (@RecordingAcad) January 5, 2022
Late-night television host Trevor Noah had been tapped to host the event and nominations for the awards were announced 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.
READ MORE: Tony Bennett to Kanye, Jon Batiste lead Grammy nominations
A series of cancellations
The 2021 Grammy awards had also been postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The ceremony was staged in March instead of January and included a mix of pre-recorded and live segments in front of a small, socially distanced crowd.
Organisers had hoped to return this year to something closer to the traditional celebration with a large audience inside the former Staples Center, now called Crypto.com Arena.
Other entertainment industry events have been delayed or scaled back as well.
Organisers of this month's Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, said on Tuesday they had canceled in-person events and would move them online.
The Critics Choice Awards, which had been set for this Sunday, have been postponed with no new date scheduled.
READ MORE: Music's best to be honoured at scaled-down Grammys
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