The 64th Annual Grammys; All you Need to Know About the Upcoming Award Show:
On Tuesday, November 23, 2021, the official announcements for the 2022 Grammys came out, leaving people stunned and shocked. The 64th annual Grammy Awards Ceremony will be held at the Staples Center in Los Angeles California on January 31, 2022. It will be available to watch live on CBS and on demand on Paramount+. There have been many surprises and snubs to come out of these nominations such as ABBA’s comeback, Miley Cyrus’s Plastic Hearts album not getting nominated for best rock album, and Jon Batiste’s overwhelming number of nominations. According to The Los Angeles Times, “The Grammy Awards aren’t fair. Neither is life. Chaos rules. Snubs will happen, and who’s to say where to lay blame?”
While this may be the 64th annual Grammys, this is the second year that the Grammy Nominations have been a live-stream event. The live streamed nominations were hosted by the Recording Academy in order to adhere to safety protocols surrounding the pandemic. The annual Grammy Nominations took place in the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles and was viewed by millions across the country. “It’s been a year of unprecedented, transformational change for the Recording Academy," Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. said in April. ‘I’m immensely proud to be able to continue our journey of growth with these latest updates to our awards process,” states the New York Post. Even though the 2022 Grammys will be held in person, it is important to follow all COVID restrictions in order to keep everyone safe and healthy.
This year, Trevor Noah will return to the stage to host the 64th annual Grammys. Trevor Noah is an award winning comedian and the host of The Daily Show on comedy central. This will be his second consecutive year hosting the Grammys. The announcement of Trevor Noah’s return was made on CBS Mornings on Wednesday, December 1st. CBS News states, “I was just lucky to be a part of it, you know," Noah said on CBS Mornings. 'And I guess we had such a good time that we were like, imagine if we had people there how much more fun would we have had, and so this year the Grammys is going to be back."
However, there are quite a few surprises to come out of the Grammy Nominations. Two new categories have been added to the Grammys this year: Best Global Music Performance (Global Music Field) and Best Música Urbana Album (Latin Music Field). This brings the total current number of Grammy Award categories to 86. Another shocking revelation was American musician, Jon Batiste, scoring the most number of nominations this year; a whopping 11 Grammy nominations. “Something about Batiste’s skills and approach, however, resonated with Grammy voters,” states the Los Angeles Times. The new categories will bring with it more excitement than ever.
The most notable shock was Drake’s withdrawal of his two Grammy nominations. According to Variety, “Drake was one of five nominees for Best Rap Album, for “Certified Lover Boy,” and for Best Rap Performance, for his song “Way 2 Sexy” (featuring Future and Young Thug).” It is unclear what the motives behind his removal are but some believe that it has something to do with his being named in lawsuits related to the Astroworld Festival catastrophe in Houston in which 10 people died. Drake was a guest performer at this festival. This claim appears to be unlikely due to the fact that he is scheduled to perform with Kanye West on December 9th 2021. However, the Grammys honored Drake’s request and his nominations have now been removed.
Overall, the Grammy nominations have had an abundant number of shocks to the music industry and there are still more surprises to come! Tune in on January 31, 2022 to find out who will win these incredible awards!
