Recording Academy postponing GRAMMYs 2021

Show was scheduled for Jan 31st

The 63rd Annual GRAMMY Awards have been postponed due to the recent surge in COVID-19 cases impacting Los Angeles. The Recording Academy and CBS have released a joint statement confirming the show will now be held in March. The event was initially set for January 31st on CBS.

“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,” the statement reads. “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.

“We want to thank all of the talented artists, the staff, our vendors and especially this year’s nominees for their understanding, patience and willingness to work with us as we navigate these unprecedented times.”

The Recording Academy was planning to only allow presenters and performers on site, likely leading to the winners remotely accepting their awards.

Top nominees for the 2021 gala include Beyoncé with nine and Dua Lipa, Roddy Ricch and Taylor Swift each with six. As the only peer-selected music accolade, the GRAMMY Awards are voted on by the Recording Academy’s voting membership body of music makers, who represent all genres and creative disciplines, including recording artists, songwriters, producers, mixers, and engineers. The voting window ended yesterday (Jan 4th).

New precautions have been issued by government officials for Los Angeles County with one in five people getting testing having a positive result. The hospital system is so critical that the public is being encouraged not to call 911 unless it’s absolutely an emergency and responders were told not to transport trauma patients to the hospital if they can’t be resuscitated in the field. Conditions are expected to worsen over the next few weeks.

Buddy Iahn
Buddy Iahn

Buddy Iahn founded The Music Universe when he decided to juxtapose his love of web design and music. As a lifelong drummer, he decided to take a hiatus from playing music to report it. The website began as a fun project in 2013 to one of the top independent news sites. Email: info@themusicuniverse.com