The Grammy Awards are gearing up to leave Los Angeles and head to New York next year, according to media reports.
Why? It depends on who you ask.
A source at Los Angeles City Hall, who did not want to be identified because she was not authorized to speak on the subject, told the Southern California News Group that New York officials want to host the 60th annual Grammy Awards show next year.
The NBA will hold its All-Star Game at Staples Center, where the Grammys have been staged since 2004, on Feb. 18, 2018. Other sources say that’s the real reason the awards show is taking a one-year hiatus for New York.
• RELATED PHOTOS: LA gets ready for the 2017 Grammy Awards
Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti would not comment directly on reports that the show is leaving.
“Los Angeles loves the Grammys — and we’ve been its home for the past 13 years,” Garcetti said in a statement Thursday. “The Grammys are always welcome here.”
The Grammys held its first awards dinner on May 4, 1959, with simultaneous ceremonies in New York and L.A. Over the years, the show has alternated between coasts.
But since 2004, the Grammys have called Los Angeles home.
On Thursday Billboard magazine reported that the New York mayor’s office had been lobbying since 2014 to bring the show back to the Big Apple, and the deal to stage the telecast there “is all but done.”
In a November article, the New York Times also said the show would be returning to New York next year and quoted Daniel Glass, a member of the Grammys host committee assembled by New York leaders, as saying the move was definitely a go.
“This is going to be incredible for this city,” said Glass who is also an executive with Glassnote, an independent music label based in New York that represents artists including Phoenix and Childish Gambino.
“I found out from the mayor’s office,” Glass added about the move.
But officials at the go-to hotels nearest to Staples Center were already girded for next year’s exit. In short, just about everyone in town seems aware of the pending move.
The JW Marriott Los Angeles at L.A. Live and adjacent sister hotel, the Ritz-Carlton Los Angeles, expect to replace this year’s Grammy celebrities with next year’s basketball stars.
“We have heard they may not be here next year,” Javier Cano, vice president and market general manager for the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton said Thursday. “Next year, we’re very fortunate to have an NBA All-Star game at about the same time… They’re both very, very high profile events.”
Despite the varying reasons for the show leaving L.A., one thing is certain, the Grammys pump a lot of money into the local economy, and even losing the show for just one year is a loss.
On average, the show brings $82 million in direct spending to L.A. and close to $200 million when related receptions, parties and other business are factored in, according to a January 2015 study by L.A.-based economic research and consulting firm Micronomics.
So, a lot is at stake.
Still, Los Angeles officials are confident the awards aren’t leaving for good.
“We are always working to keep events in L.A. and have an outstanding relationship with the Grammys,” said Kathryn S. Schloessman, president of the Los Angeles Sports & Entertainment Commission. “That being said, they have hosted their event in L.A. for 13 years straight and we have always understood at some point, they would need to go to New York, to appease their constituency and the record labels there.”
An official announcement from the Recording Academy about where next year’s show will be held is expected to come after Sunday’s show.
Despite the behind-the-scenes jockeying over where the show will land in years to come, the stars are already descending on L.A. for Sunday’s broadcast and the pre-parties leading up to it.
• RELATED VIDEO: Grammy host James Corden helps roll out the red carpet
In downtown Los Angeles Thursday, workers scurried to prepare for the ceremony with rehearsal segments inside Staples Center.
Outside the building, “The Late Late Show” host James Corden, who will emcee Sunday’s show, rolled out the red carpet with help from Recording Academy President Neil Portnow, show executive producer Ken Ehrlich and CBS executive Jack Sussman.
When asked if the Grammy Awards would be pulling up stakes next year for New York, Recording Academy officials were evasive.
“Nothing’s confirmed,” said Neda Azarfar, spokeswoman for the Santa Monica-based Recording Academy, scurrying away from a reporter. “There are a lot of conversations.
“Everybody is committed to making it work.”
Staff Writer Elizabeth Chou contributed to this report.
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