We are hours away from music’s biggest night, and it’s still hard to believe The Weeknd received zero GRAMMY nominations.  After Hours became one of the biggest and best albums of 2020 and its lead single, Blinding Lights, has spent an entire year in the top 10.

 

As a result and moving forward, The Weeknd will boycott the GRAMMYs, “I will no longer allow my label to submit my music to the Grammys because of the secret committees,” Abel shared in a statement.

 

 

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According to GMA, “The Weeknd is referring to the anonymous Grammy committees that review the thousands of votes from all the Recording Academy members and then make the final determination regarding who gets nominated in most of the categories. Committee members can also add names that were not selected by voters (except for the top four categories).”

At this point, it is unclear why Abel got snubbed.  When Harvey Mason Jr. (interim Grammy chief) was asked, he replied with, “It’s unfortunate and not something any of us are happy about.”  Harvey went on to say ‘he was surprised The Weeknd wasn’t nominated and empathize with what he’s feeling.’

 

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In the past, The Weeknd has won Urban Contemporary Album (Beauty Behind the Madness, 2016), R&B Performance for ‘Earned It’ (2016), and Urban Contemporary Album (Starboy, 2018).  He’s been nominated for Rap/Sung Performance (Remember You, 2014), Song Written for Visual Media (Earned It, 2016), R&B Song (Earned It, 2016), Pop Solo Performance (Can’t Feel My Face, 2016), Record of the Year (Can’t Feel My Face, 2016), and Album of the Year (Beauty Behind the Madness, 2016).

 

Days following the nominations, The Weeknd posted, “The Grammys remain corrupt.  You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency.”

 

 

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Abel later told Billboard, “Look, I personally don’t care anymore. I have three Grammys, which mean nothing to me now, obviously. It’s not like, ‘Oh, I want the Grammy!’ It’s just that this happened, and I’m down to get in front of the fire, as long as it never happens again.  I suck at giving speeches anyways. Forget awards shows.”

Filed under: 2021 Grammys, The Weeknd