The Weeknd vows to permanently boycott the Grammys

The Weeknd has decided to permanently boycott the Grammy awards after being overlooked for this year’s nominations. 

The Weeknd, real name Abel Tesfaye, has announced that he will be permanently boycotting the Grammy Awards. He is one of many artists who have boycotted the awards for being “corrupt.”

“Because of the secret committees,” the Weeknd told The New York Times on 11th March 2021, “I will no longer allow my label to submit my music to the Grammys.”

Other black artists such as Drake, Kanye West, and Frank Ocean have all previously rebuked the Grammys. Nicki Minaj has also shown her distaste for the awards. She tweeted in 2020, "Never forget the Grammys didn’t give me my best new artist award when I had 7 songs simultaneously charting on billboard & bigger first week than any female rapper in the last decade- went on to inspire a generation. They gave it to the white man Bon Iver."

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It's been a huge year already for The Weeknd. The Weekend’s hit song "Blinding Lights" was the first song to spend an entire year in the Top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100. The star also performed at the Superbowl halftime show as the guest performer.

The Weeknd told Billboard, “After Hours was always meant to be a very personal project. It's a story I had to tell," he said. "The fact I've been able to tell it with the world listening is incredible. This Billboard chart record is truly a result of the fans. I'm so humbled and forever grateful to them."

When the awards were announced in November 2020, the artist tweeted, “The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans, and the industry transparency…” He continued to say on Twitter, “Collaboratively planning a performance for weeks to not being invited?  In my opinion zero nominations = you’re not invited!”

The tweet received over a million likes, and fans joined the star in his outrage. One fan said, “Talk your sh*t, fan or no fan you gotta admit this man deserves at least one nomination, now bc you spoke out against them, you'll be banned, this is how that ceremony works always undermining pocs.” 

Another fan commented, “You deserved way better. After Hours one of the best albums of the year, and Blinding lights SOTY (Song of the Year) and ROTY! (Record of the Year)”

The Weeknd’s manager, Wassim Slaiby, told the New York Times that The Weeknd was to perform at the Grammys until it became clear that he wasn’t nominated. He said, “We were many weeks and dozens of calls in with the Grammy team around Abel’s performance right up to the day of nominations being announced,” said Slaiby. “We were scratching our heads in confusion and wanted answers.”