Grammy Awards leaves Los Angeles for New York in 2018

Friday, 12 May 2017 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Reuters: Music’s biggest night is heading to New York next year after more than a decade in Los Angeles, the organisers of the annual Grammy Awards said on Tuesday.

The 60th Grammy Awards will take place on Jan. 28 at Manhattan’s Madison Square Garden arena, where the ceremony was last held in 2003, the Recording Academy and CBS Corp, which televises the live event, said in a statement.

The move to bring the prestigious event, staged at the Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles for the past 14 years, to New York was largely championed by the city’s mayor, Bill de Blasio, the statement said. It said the show is estimated to bring $200 million to the city’s economy.

“Playing host to the music industry’s marquee awards show is a unique creative, artistic and economic boon to the rich cultural fabric of our city,” de Blasio said in the statement.

The announcement was accompanied by a short film directed by Spike Lee, in which he and New York musicians including Cyndi Lauper and Tony Bennett showed off the city’s musical history and venues.