2000 Grammy Awards Expected to Be Held at Staples Center

The National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences is expected to announce today that the 42nd annual Grammy Awards ceremony will be staged next February at the new Staples Center arena downtown.

The announcement has been expected. The Grammys have been coveted by Staples Center leaders, and designers of the $375-million arena even consulted with Grammy producers to make the 20,000-seat venue accommodating for the global telecast.

What remains uncertain is how often the Staples Center and Los Angeles will play host to the event, which by some estimates pumps $40 million into the local economy.

The show has been in New York three of the past four years and NARAS President Michael Greene has said the show should be a “home and away” series, shuttling back and forth between Madison Square Garden and the Staples Center.

The move to the Staples Center will give the Grammys more elbow room on the West Coast. Greene says the awards have outgrown the 5,000-seat Shrine Auditorium, the only Los Angeles venue for the Grammys since 1978.

The Staples Center is slated to open Oct. 16 and will be home to the Los Angeles Lakers, Clippers and Kings, and is also expected to become a major music venue. Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band have been tapped for the venue’s first concert Oct. 17.

Los Angeles Mayor Richard J. Riordan is expected to join Greene, LeAnn Rimes, Quincy Jonesand Snoop Dogg for today’s announcement at a courtyard overlooking the arena’s construction site.