Music world set for pandemic-era Grammys after devastating year

NEW YORK: Nearly a year to the day after Covid-19 grounded tours and forced performance venues to close, the music world will celebrate its stars at the Grammys on Sunday, and try to move past a crushing 2020.

The normally glitzy gala will be scaled back, like all major awards shows, to a primarily virtual affair, with a mix of live and pre-taped performances in keeping with restrictions now commonplace in the coronavirus era, which left the industry flailing and forced the ceremony to be pushed back.

Beyonce — whose repeated losses in the top categories have stirred heated controversy — leads the pack with nine nods, followed by Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa and Roddy Ricch with six each.

Beyonce’s sweeping “Black…