The Recording Academy announced today that the 64th annual Grammy Awards Ceremony will be postponed due to surging cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19.

An email issued jointly by the Recording Academy and CBS stated, “After careful consideration and analysis with city and state officials, health and safety experts, the artist community and our many partners, the Recording Academy and CBS have postponed the 64th Annual Grammy Awards Show. 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.  Given the uncertainty surrounding the Omicron variant, holding the show on January 31st simply contains too many risks.  We look forward to celebrating Music’s Biggest Night on a future date, which will be announced soon.”

The Grammy ceremony had been scheduled to be presented before a full audience at its traditional venue, the Crypto.com Arena (formerly known as the Staples Center) in downtown Los Angeles. Trevor Noah, host of The Daily Show, is still scheduled to return as Grammy host this year.

Last year’s show—which was also scheduled for January 31—was rescheduled to March 14 after a holiday-season spike in COVID-19 infections in Southern California.

Numerous Louisiana artists are among the nominees for 2021 Grammy Awards, including Jon Batiste (who leads all nominees with 11), Sean Ardoin and Kreole Rock And Soul, Corey Ledet, Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah, Terence Blanchard, Ledisi, Cha Wa, and others. For a complete list of Louisiana-based nominees, visit here.