The 64th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony in the United States has been postponed due to a nationwide surge in COVID-19 cases caused by a new variant of the virus, Omicron.

The annual award was earlier fixed for January 31.

In a joint statement issued on Wednesday, the organisers said the event would take place on a new date to be announced later.

The award is organised by the Recording Academy and CBS.

It read: “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 31 simply contains too many risks.”

Nominations for the awards were announced on November 23 last year.

The nominations were selected from projects released between September 1, 2020, and September 30, 2021.