‘Overwhelmingly Heartbroken’: Glass Animals Miss Grammys Due to Positive Covid Test

Tonight, we’ll be thinking about you, Glass Animals. Minutes before they were set to attend Sunday’s Grammy Awards in Las Vegas, the group announced that Dave Bayley — the group’s frontman — had tested positive for Covid and will be missing the awards show.

“I am so overwhelmingly heartbroken,” Bayley wrote on Instagram. “Not just within myself but for everyone who has worked so insanely hard with us over the past couple of chaotic years, and for every one of you who supported and believed in this project enough to get us here through thick and thin.”

Bayley wrote that he’s “showing no symptoms so far” but decided to not attend the show. And, since the group was around him over the past few days, the rest of the band — Drew MacFarlane, Joe Seaward, and Edmund Irwin-Singer — will ship the show due to the potential exposure.

“I wanted to do it for Joe who survived that horrible accident and was strong enough to recover,” he wrote. (Seaward was hit by a truck while riding a bike in 2018.) Bayley later added, “‘Heat Waves’ is a song about missing someone and loss in difficult times. That difficult time has bitten us tonight, and we will miss sharing the evening with you all. The meaning of the song is hitting me hard right now.”

The group is nominated for Best New Artist, against the likes of Arooj Aftab, Jimmie Allen, Baby Keem, Finneas, Japanese Breakfast, the Kid Laroi, Arlo Parks, Olivia Rodrigo, and Saweetie.

“I am in my room. I have ordered room service. And I am prepped with several bags of Cheetos and gummy bear multivitamins,” Bayley concluded. “I am ready to kick the small pointy arse of Covid and cheer for all the amazing musicians and records being honored tonight.”

Glass Animals notably attended several pre-Grammy events, including the MusiCares Person of the Year event celebrating Joni Mitchell.