The Weeknd Accuses GRAMMY Awards of Corruption
The announcement of the GRAMMY Award nominations for 2021 stirred up some controversy when three-time GRAMMY Award winner The Weeknd received zero nominations this year.
The announcement of the GRAMMY Award nominations for 2021 stirred up some controversy when three-time GRAMMY Award winner The Weeknd received zero nominations this year. On November 25, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer The Weeknd took to his social media to accuse the GRAMMYs of corruption in a post.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CH_mZAkBlcI/
The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency…
— Abel Tesfaye (@theweeknd) November 25, 2020
Fans across the world, and The Weeknd himself were shocked to see no sign of his name in the nominations list, and took to social media immediately. His latest album After Hours opened strong at Billboard No. 1, staying there for four consecutive weeks. According to the New York Times, the album sold 275,000 copies, with a total of 221 million streams.
In a recent post earlier today (November 25), he made another comment on how he had been working on his performance for the GRAMMYs with the company for weeks, and stated that zero nominations would mean he’s not invited or welcome.
Collaboratively planning a performance for weeks to not being invited? In my opinion zero nominations = you’re not invited!
— Abel Tesfaye (@theweeknd) November 25, 2020
According to a report on Variety, the GRAMMYs and The Weeknd’s team were already preparing for his performance at the awards show, considering he would be one of this year’s biggest nominees. But there was some friction between the two when The Weeknd was also offered a Super Bowl halftime slot, scheduled for just a week after the GRAMMYs on January 31, 2021. Variety’s sources said the two finally came to a consensus that he could perform at both events, but later on Tuesday found his name in no category on the nomination list. However, the Recording Academy’s interim President and CEO Harvey Mason Jr. told Associated Press he understood why The Weeknd was disappointed at not being nominated. He said, “You know, there’s so many nominations and there’s only so many slots, it’s really tough to predict what the voters are going to vote for in any given year. I try not to be too surprised.”
The Weeknd had earned his first career GRAMMY for his 2015 album Beauty Behind The Madness. The 63rd Annual Awards show announced its nominations on 24th November, with pop sensation Beyonce dominating the list with nine nominations. It turns out she is now the second most nominated artist in GRAMMY history after Frank Sinatra, according to a report on Reuters. Following Beyonce are Taylor Swift and Dua Lipa, with six nominations. Check these details on Billboard News in this video:
This edition of the awards will be hosted by Trevor Noah, a South African comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host, who has his own The Daily Show on Comedy Central.
Check out the complete list of Nominations for the GRAMMY Awards 2021 here.
Featured Image via The Weeknd Facebook
