Canadian pop star The Weeknd has said that he will be boycotting all the future Grammy award ceremonies and will no longer submit his work for consideration. His announcement comes after his latest album ‘After Hours’ did not receive any nomination at the 2021 Grammy.
In a statement to The New York Times, he stated “Because of the secret committees, I will no longer allow my label to submit my music to the Grammys.”
The Weeknd came out with the biggest song of 2020 – ‘Blinding Lights’ - which was a part of his album ‘After Hours’. The song made history as the first song ever to spend a year in the Billboard Hot 100 chart’s top 10. The album was snubbed from the 2021 Grammy nominations despite being a critical success.
When nominations came out in November last year, he took to Twitter to accuse the Grammys of being corrupt. “The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans, and the industry transparency...” he tweeted last year.
Various artists have questioned the role of anonymous expert committees. The Recording Academy has the power to review the nominations by its voting membership. However, it retains the veto power over who makes it to the official nominations. Last year, the chief executive of the Recording Academy - which organises the ceremony - claimed to have evidence of "serious" irregularities in the voting.
However, The Weeknd is not the only megastar to snub the Grammy awards ceremony. There have been growing concerns, for years, about Grammys’ poor record of equal representation. People of color have not being given their due at the award ceremonies over the years. Only ten Black artists have won Album of the year and the last Black artist to take home the Album of the year was Herbie Hancock in 2008, for a tribute to Joni Mitchell.
Here a list of other stars who won’t be attending the 2021 Grammy awards.
Justin Bieber
Justin Bieber had decided to not attend the 2021 Grammy. The ‘hold on’ star has objected to nominations. Although he has received four nominations in Best Pop Solo Performance (“Yummy”), Best Pop Duo/Group Performance (“Intentions,” with Quavo), Best Pop Vocal Album, and Best Country Duo/Group Performance, he has objected to his work being classified as “pop”. He took to Instagram last year to register his protest.
Zayn Malik
Zayn Malik lashed out at Grammys on Tuesday, said that there “ no nomination consideration unless you shake hands or send gifts.”
"Unless you shake hands and send gifts, there's no nomination considerations. Next year I'll send you a basket of confectionery," the star tweeted.
Malik has never been nominated at the Grammy Awards. Although his latest album was not even eligible for this year’s Grammy but the British singer clarified that he was more concerned “about the need for inclusion and the lack of transparency of the nomination process."
Kanye West
A multi-Grammy award winner Kanye West has not attended the Grammy Awards since 2015. He has criticized the Recording Academy for not nominating his albums My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy – arguably the most acclaimed album of the 2010s. He has been a vocal critic of Grammy awards ever since. Although he has received a nomination for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album for his 'Jesus is King' record, it is highly unlikely that he would show up at the ceremony.
The Grammys 2021 will air live from Los Angeles on March 14 on CBS at 8 pm EST or 5 pm PST. The host of The Daily Show and one-time Grammy nominee, Trevor Noah will be emceeing the grand event.