The Weeknd’s New Grammy Nominations, History Of Being Snubbed & Boycotting Explained
24 November 2021, 14:45
The Weeknd performs at the Super Bowl halftime show
The Weeknd has secured three Grammy nominations for 2022 after announcing plans to boycott the award show.
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After announcing that he was boycotting the Grammys, The Weeknd has scored three nominations for the 2022 ceremony.
Just a year ago, the ‘Save Your Tears’ singer - real name Abel Makkonen Tesfaye - called out the Academy after he was snubbed despite having one of the biggest selling albums of 2020 with ‘After Hours’.
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He vowed to no longer submit his music to the Grammys but has still been nominated for three awards.
Here’s the lowdown on how he bagged the nominations despite not submitting music and what happened last year…
How did The Weeknd secure Grammy nominations despite not submitting his music?
After not receiving any nominations for his 2020 hit album ‘After Hours’, The Weeknd vowed to ‘no longer allow my label to submit my music to the Grammys’.
However, the ‘Earned It’ star secured Grammy nominations for his work on Kanye West’s ‘Donda’ album and involvement with Doja Cat’s ‘Planet Her’ album.
Therefore, since the albums are by other artists and submitted by other labels, he was able to still get nominated.
However, we’re sure we won’t see the star make an appearance at the 2022 ceremony.
The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency...
— The Weeknd (@theweeknd) November 25, 2020
Why is The Weeknd boycotting The Grammys?
The Weeknd was snubbed for not receiving any Grammy nominations for ‘After Hours’, despite the lead single ‘Blinding Lights’ breaking records and becoming the first ever song to stay in the top 10 for 52 weeks.
The artist called out the Academy in a series of tweets, branding them ‘corrupt’.
He tweeted: “The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency…”
The Weeknd then went on to reveal he had been planning a performance at the 2021 ceremony but cancelled it after being snubbed.
Despite now boycotting all future ceremonies, The Weeknd has previously won three Grammys:
- Urban Contemporary Album in 2018 for ‘Starboy’.
- Urban Contemporary Album in 2016 for ‘Beauty Behind the Madness’.
- R&B Performance in 2016 for ‘Earned It’.
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