The Weeknd reacts to Grammy nominations.
As the 2021 Grammy Awards approach, so do the controversy, and this time it’s about The Weeknd. Following the rejection of his smash single ‘Blinding Lights’ got, the three-time winner has opted to skip the coveted award ceremony. The song, which has been in the Billboard Hot 100 Top 10 for 52 weeks, has not been nominated in any category, prompting the Canadian pop singer to boycott the Grammys.
The Recording Academy/GRAMMYs have announced the nominations in all categories for their 63rd annual event, and it shocked a lot of people as The Weeknd received 0 nominations, despite having the biggest song of the year (Blinding Lights) and one of the best albums (After Hours) this year.
The Weeknd took to Twitter and reacts to the nominations snub. “The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency…” wrote The Weeknd.
The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency…
— The Weeknd (@theweeknd) November 25, 2020
The Recording Academy chief Harvey Mason, Jr. reacts to The Weeknd’s tweet and said, “Congratulations to today’s GRAMMY’s nominees who have earned their peers’ recognition for their incredible work. There were a record number of submissions in this unusual and competitive year. We understand that The Weeknd is disappointed at not being nominated. I was surprised and can empathize with what he’s feeling. His music this year was excellent, and his contributions to the music community and broader world are worthy of everyone’s admiration. We were thrilled when we found out he would be performing at the upcoming Super Bowl and we would have loved to have him also perform on the GRAMMY stage the weekend before.”
“Unfortunately, every year, there are fewer nominations than the number of deserving artists,” Mason continued. “But as the only peer-voted music award, we will continue to recognize and celebrate excellence in music while shining a light on the many amazing artists that make up our global community. To be clear, voting in all categories ended well before The Weeknd’s performance at the Super Bowl was announced, so in no way could it have affected the nomination process. All GRAMMY nominees are recognized by the voting body for their excellence, and we congratulate them all.”
Only ten Black musicians have won album of the year as lead artists in the 62-year history of the award, according to Billboard. The Weeknd has already won three awards. His album Behind the Madness took up the award for the best urban contemporary album in 2016. He won R&B performance for ‘Earned It’ and the best urban contemporary album for his third album Starboy in the previous five years.
Aside from Beyonce and Taylor Swift, Lipa, Billie Eilish, Megan Thee Stallion, Post Malone, Roddy Ricch, Coldplay, Haim, and Jhené Aiko are among the top candidates, according to the New York Times.
