New York gets a big boost after it earns nod to host Grammy Awards next year

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Spike Lee welcomes the 2018 Grammy Awards to New York City.
Host James Corden performs onstage during the 59th Annual Grammy music Awards on Feb 12, 2017. PHOTO: AFP

LOS ANGELES (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, where the ceremony was last held in 2003, the Recording Academy and CBS, which televises the live event, said.

The move to bring the prestigious event, staged at the Staples Centre in downtown Los Angeles for the past 14 years, to New York was largely championed by the city's mayor, Mr Bill de Blasio, the statement said.

It added that the show is estimated to bring US$200 million (S$280 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," Mr de Blasio said.

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.

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