Grammys postponed indefinitely as Omicron surge presents 'too many risks'

The Recording Academy is hitting pause on this year's Grammys.

The awards ceremony has been indefinitely postponed due to rising COVID-19 cases driven by the Omicron variant, the Recording Academy and CBS announced on Wednesday. The Grammy Awards were originally set to take place on Jan. 31.

"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," CBS and the Recording Academy announced. "Given the uncertainty surrounding the Omicron variant, holding the show on January 31 simply contains too many risks. We look forward to celebrating 'Music's Biggest Night' on a future date, which will be announced soon.""

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The Grammys became the latest awards ceremony to be affected by the current surge in COVID-19 cases, and the Critics Choice Awards, originally scheduled for Jan. 9, was also recently postponed indefinitely.

At nearly the same time that the Grammys postponement was announced, another major event was impacted by the Omicron surge: the Sundance Film Festival, which announced that plans to hold events in person this year would be canceled. It will instead proceed virtually.

"While it is a deep loss to not have the in-person experience in Utah, we do not believe it is safe nor feasible to gather thousands of artists, audiences, employees, volunteers, and partners from around the world, for an 11-day festival while overwhelmed communities are already struggling to provide essential services," the film festival said.