Pop star lashes out at organization
After having one of the biggest album’s of the year, The Weeknd’s name was surprisingly left off the 63rd Annual GRAMMY nominations list when they were released on Tuesday (Nov 24th). Shortly thereafter, the pop star lashed out at the Recording Academy on social media, calling them “corrupt” for the snub.
“The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency…” he writes on Twitter.
The tweet likely stems from an ultimatum the singer/songwriter, who’s legal name is Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, was given to either choose playing the GRAMMYs on January 31st or performing as the Pepsi Super Bowl LV Halftime Show headliner a week later, TMZ reports.
Sources claim that The Weeknd’s team was in intense talks for weeks with GRAMMYs honchos, who issued the ultimatum. Testy negotiations led to an agreement where Tesfaye could perform at both prestigious events. Sources suspect his decision to perform at the Super Bowl cost him GRAMMY nominations due to bitter back-and-forth talks that GRAMMYs honchos didn’t like.
CBS is airing both events. The GRAMMYs are January 31st with the Super Bowl on February 7th.
In less than a decade, The Weeknd has amassed a global fanbase, become a multi-award winning artist, and recently, was named one of the most influential people of 2020 by Time Magazine. Regarded for his creative vision, The Weeknd is known for his genre-bending music and redefining storytelling, both sonically and visually.
After Hours is The Weeknd’s fourth No. 1 album on the Billboard 200, earning 138,000 equivalent album units within the first week of sales, according to Nielsen Music/MRC. Every song from After Hours achieved placement on Billboard’s Hot 100, with “Alone Again” peaking at No. 24.
The album was released to massive critical and fan acclaim earlier this year and has been crowned the year’s biggest release, earning over two billion global streams and nearly two million in global consumption. After Hours has become the No. 1 R&B streaming album of all time, breaking the record previously held by The Weeknd’s 2016 release, Starboy. The artist now holds the No. 1 and No. 2 top streaming R&B albums of all time with After Hours and Starboy.
