The Grammy Awards, the top honors in the music industry, will take place in Los Angeles next year, the city’s mayor said Wednesday, even as organizers wonder how to announce the winners of the Latin Grammys, which were canceled following the Sept. 11 attacks.
“In keeping with tradition, the City of Los Angeles is looking forward to hosting the Grammys for the fourth consecutive year,” Mayor Jim Hahn said in a statement.
A source close to the event said the ceremony will take place Feb. 27 at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, site of the last two ceremonies.
The official announcement about the 44th annual Grammys will be made at a news conference Thursday morning at the Staples Center.
Hahn will attend the media event, with Recording Academy president Michael Greene, and CBS Television chief Leslie Moonves, whose network will broadcast the show. Also scheduled to attend are recording artists Mary J. Blige, Dave Koz, A.B. Quintanilla, Shea Seger, and Tyrese.
The Grammys have traditionally been held in Los Angeles, but organizers brought them to New York, the corporate home of the music industry, in 1994, 1997 and 1998. A feud then broke out between Greene and New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who accused Greene of threatening a city official, which has helped keep the Grammys in Los Angeles ever since.
Meanwhile, the second annual Latin Grammys were to take place in Los Angeles on the evening of Sept. 11, but were canceled following that day’s attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. An academy spokeswoman said the organization hoped to make an announcement about how the winners will be revealed within several weeks.
The attacks have already forced the organizers of television’s Emmy Awards to postpone their event twice. The ceremony is now scheduled for Nov. 4 at the Shubert Theatre, in the Los Angeles district of Century City.
