He may not be hosting Jeopardy! but LeVar Burton, the former Reading Rainbow star, will be in our homes during this year’s Grammy telecast.
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That’s right, Burton is set to host the Grammys’ pre-telecast “Premiere Ceremony,” which will include performances by Jimmie Allen and Allison Russell.
Burton is also up for an award: Best Spoken Word Album for Aftermath. Others nominated in that category include Barack Obama, Don Cheadle, J. Ivy, and Dave Chappelle & Amir Sulaiman.
Said Burton about his nomination and category, which includes all Black nominees: “I’m excited to host this celebration of the best performers across genres and art forms. I am incredibly honored in particular to be represented in the Best Spoken Word category this historic year, with a cohort of five other outstandingly talented Black men, along with the words of the late great Congressman John Lewis.”
The pre-telecast afternoon event, which will be broadcast ahead of the ceremony itself on April 3, will also include the announcement of many of the night’s winners (86 awards).
The night will kick off at the MGM Grand Conference Marquee Ballroom in Las Vegas at 12:30 PM PT. And the early unveiling of winners will be available for streaming on the Recording Academy’s YouTube channel and at live.grammy.com.
Allen, who is nominated for Best New Artist, is set to perform as well as new-and-three-time-nominee Allison Russell. Others set to perform include Ledisi, Mon Laferte and Curtis Stewart. And the pre-telecast will open with a multi-nominee performance that features Madison Cunningham, Falu, Nnenna Freelon, Kalani Pe’a, John Popper, and the Isaacs, according to Variety.
This year, the 64th annual Grammy Awards ceremony will be broadcast on CBS and Paramount+ from 8-11:30 PM ET on April 3.
