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A new date for the show was not announced

Citing the ongoing surge in Covid cases due to the Omicron variant, the Recording Academy announced that the 2022 Grammys will be postponed. A new date for the show was not announced.

In a statement, the Recording Academy and CBS, which airs the Grammys, said, “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.”

Like other live entertainment organizers, the Recording Academy had been confident in a full-scale Grammys showcase for 2022 before the new year. But as the Omicron variant has spiked confirmed cases to numbers not seen since before the availability of vaccines, the optics of a full-scale show — particularly where attendees would be coming from around the world — have changed.

This marks the second year in a row that the pandemic has forced the Grammys to postpone. Last year, the Academy moved the show from late Jan. to Mar. 14, and the show went with a mixture of live and pre-recorded performances along with a limited crowd of Grammy nominees. It isn’t immediately clear what the plan will be for the Grammys’ new date.

L.A. County, where the Grammys would take place, averaged nearly 12,000 new confirmed Covid cases a day recently, the highest tally the county has seen since a surge after the holiday season last year. While hospitals across California were overwhelmed with hospitalizations this time last year when the Grammys pushed the show back, hospitals currently have more manageable numbers and availability to treat patients thanks to the wide availability of vaccines. Health experts, however, still worry about high hospitalizations given how transmissible Omicron is and how many people across the country still haven’t gotten the vaccine.

Jon Batiste leads the Grammy nominations this year with 11, while Justin Bieber, Doja Cat, and H.E.R. tied for second with eight nominations. Trevor Noah was set to repeat as host after also MCing the Grammys last year.

Addison Rae invited Charli XCX to join her on stage during her show at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles last night. Charli appeared alongside Rae for two of their previous collaborations, performing “Von Dutch Remix,” from Charli’s 2024 project Brat and It’s Completely Different but Also Still Brat, as well as Rae’s 2023 single “2 Die 4.”

For the closing number, Rae came back on stage for a surprise encore of “Nothing On (But the Radio),” a song that usually isn’t part of her set list. The performance began with Rae appearing on the big screens backstage while removing her clothes, and as the lights went down, she reemerged to deliver the fan-favorite track. Many saw the moment as a nod to Lady Gaga’s Mayhem Ball, where Gaga ends each show with “How Bad Do U Want Me.” Gaga originally recorded “Nothing On” as a demo in 2010.

“2 Die 4” was featured on Rae’s EP AR and marked the pair’s first collaboration. They went on to work together again for “Von Dutch” with A. G. Cook, as well as on Cook’s “Lucifer.” Earlier this year, Charli expressed her admiration for Rae in an interview with Rolling Stone, saying, “It’s been fun to watch her evolve. Everything she does relates back to her art — every item of clothing she wears, everything she says in a red-carpet interview, everything she tweets — it all is a part of the world-building.”

Rae released her latest album, Addison, in June and has spent the late summer and fall performing across multiple cities. Her next shows are set for Australia in November, followed by appearances at music festivals in South America next year, including Lollapalooza Chile and Lollapalooza Brazil. She will also perform at Coachella in April and Primavera Sound in Barcelona in June.

Charli XCX has been dividing her time between music and acting, as her film career continues to grow. She joined Lorde on stage at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles last year to perform their version of “Girl, So Confusing.” The two also performed the remix during Charli’s Sweat Tour with Troye Sivan in 2024, and again at Coachella earlier this year.

It was revealed earlier this week that Dakota Johnson is considering Charli XCX for a role in her directorial debut, A Tree Is Blue. Charli’s upcoming acting projects include Cathy Yan’s The Gallerist, Gregg Araki’s I Want Your Sex, Julia Jackson’s 100 Nights of Hero, and The Moment, a film directed by Aidan Zamiri based on her original story.

“I am really enjoying my acting journey,” Charli told Variety earlier this year. “I feel very, very inspired at the moment in that field, I feel unbelievably creative, and I only ever want to do things that inspire me and make me feel energized.”

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