Don’t check your calendar: Yes, it’s April 3, and finally time for the 64th Grammy Awards. Originally scheduled to take place at the end of January in L.A., the show was upended by the winter surge in the Omicron variant, and eventually moved two-plus months and about 250 miles northeast, to Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Arena.
Scheduled to appear at what’s expected to be a wide-open ceremony: host Trevor Noah; top nominee Jon Batiste; pop stars Olivia Rodrigo, Doja Cat, Justin Bieber, Lil Nas X and Lady Gaga; Musicares Person of the Year Joni Mitchell; and certainly there in spirit, 95-year-old multiple nominee Tony Bennett and the late Foo Fighter Taylor Hawkins. Not expected: Kanye West, or anyone involved in last Sunday’s slap.
Keep it here throughout the day, for who-wore-it-worst updates from the red carpet and the first wave of winners from the afternoon’s Premiere Ceremony, starting at 12:30 Pacific. Then, beginning at 5 p.m. Pacific, The Times’ Mikael Wood and Suzy Exposito will break down the big winners, bigger upsets, best live performances and other top stories from Sunday’s main ceremony in our 2022 Grammys live chat.
8:48 p.m. Why was Batiste looking so puzzled about winning album of the year? He explains in the media room: “I really don’t do it for the awards! I really believe that music is so subjective. But I was just having a good time. I was with my family, we had just performed. It was surreal because of the moment, and the lead-up to it — and seeing Uncle Lenny up there was like a whole vibe, it was far out.” —SE
8:39 p.m. After the show, SZA enters the media room on crutches, ready to explain exactly what has befallen her: “I fell out of bed the day before I had to leave for the Grammys,” she says. She adds that she’s finished her new album, and that it’s her most “unisex project yet.” —SE
8:35 p.m. Remember that year when Beck beat Beyoncé in this category? And Kanye almost rushed the stage? Simpler times….