It was the Grammys snub that surprised many fans, music industry insiders and The Weeknd himself, after the Canadian singer-songwriter failed to pick up a single nomination Tuesday for the 2021 Grammy Awards.
The snub came in a banner year that saw the singer tapped to headline the Super Bowl LV halftime show, his song “Blinding Lights” topped the charts in 34 countries, music critics called his fourth studio album “After Hours” his best work yet, and he broke the record for the most global pre-adds in Apple Music history.
The Weeknd was clearly shocked by being overlooked, and took to Twitter to air out his frustrations, tweeting: “The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency…”
Related Story: Beyoncé Leads Grammy Awards Nominations, Trevor Noah to Host
The Recording Academy’s chairman and interim chief executive Harvey Mason Jr. responded in a statement via the Los Angeles Times, “We understand that the Weeknd is disappointed at not being nominated. I was surprised and can empathize with what he’s feeling. Unfortunately, every year, there are fewer nominations than the number of deserving artists.”
TMZ reported sources close to The Weeknd said negotiations to be able to perform at the Grammys and the Super Bowl, which is also airing on CBS, turned into an ultimatum between the “Starboy” singer and top brass at the Grammys organization.
However Mason assured that was not the case in his statement.
“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,” Mason said. “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.”
