2021 Grammy Awards postponed due to Covid concerns

Sources say that the 2021 Grammy ceremony may be held sometime in March

2021 Grammy Awards postponed due to Covid concerns. (Getty Images)

The 2021 Grammy Awards have reportedly been postponed due to rising Covid-19 concerns.

A rep for the show confirmed the news to Variety on 5 January.

The show has been rescheduled for 14 March, according to a rep for the Recording Academy.

A Covid-safe 2021 Grammy ceremony, forgoing an audience, was slated to be held on 31 January in Los Angeles, possibly at the show’s longtime Staples Center home.

Nominated artists would not have been allowed on-site, leading many to believe that the 2021 Grammys would run similarly to last fall's mostly remote Emmy Awards, which was also held at the Staples Center.

This year's Grammy nominations were led by Beyoncé, who earned nine nods, as well as Dua Lipa, Taylor Swift, and Roddy Ricch, who each earned six nominations.

Covid-19 has been on the rise in Los Angeles ever since Thanksgiving, with a new single-day record of 74,000 new cases on 4 January, according to The Los Angeles Times. 

News of the LA area hospital system being at capacity has been circulating for days. The LA County Emergency Medical Services Agency has directed ambulance teams to ration oxygen and not transfer patients who have little chance of survival.

Read More: Grammys 2021: Recording Academy criticised for ‘disaster’ Album of the Year nominations

Speaking to Variety last summer, interim Recording Academy president and CEO Harvey Mason Jr said that the initial plan around this year's Grammy ceremony would be to hold the show at the 18,000-seat Staples Center with either a limited or no audience. More recently, he said that the show would be held "in and around Downtown Los Angeles", which suggested that a production would be split among multiple area venues.

In an interview with Billboard last month, executive producer Ben Winston said that he was "looking to do something quite exciting with independent venues" for the 2021 show.

"I’m so struck by the independent music venues around the world, and I’m aware of how hard hit that side of the industry has been. I’m looking to do something quite exciting with the independent venues – supporting them and putting a spotlight on them in what has been a really tough year for them."