The Weeknd said he no longer cared about being snubbed by the Grammys, after receiving no nomination in any category at this year’s event.
The singer is preparing to make headlines at Super Bowl half-time show on 7 February and was asked by Billboard how he felt about last November’s snub.
‘I Don’t Care Anymore’
“Look, I don’t care anymore. I have three Grammys, which means nothing to me now, obviously,” he said.
“I suck at giving speeches anyway. Forget about the award shows.”
He added he was over wanting to win, and said: “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.”
The Weeknd’s Upcoming Performance
The Canadian actor, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, said he now focused on “dialling in on the fans at home and making performances a cinematic experience, and we want to do that with the Super Bowl”.
His manager Wassim “Sal” Slaiby added that although the organizers of the show were accustomed to paying all production costs, the artist had invested $ 7m (£ 5m) to make”make this half-time show be what he envisioned”.
The singer is best known for his attention fetching shows when he received major awards at the August MTV VMAs, appearing on stage with a bloodied face, and at the November American Music Awards, where her face was covered with bandages.
The make-up and bandages are part of an anti drink-driving message he has been promoting in his new music.
Grammys Nominations
During the announcement of the Grammy nomination, Tesfaye accused the organizers of being “corrupt”, with the success of his debut album After Hours and the single Blinding Lights.
Grammys’ response says they “sympathize” with his disappointment but some “appropriate” actions are lost every year.
Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Dua Lipa were shortlisted for the 2021 Grammy Awards, with Beyoncé nominated for nine, and Swift and Lipa for six each.
Tesfaye shared his current feelings for the Grammys, telling Billboard:
“I use a sucker punch as an analogy. Because it just kind of hit me out of nowhere. I definitely felt… I felt things. I don’t know if it was sadness or anger. I think it was just confusion. I just wanted answers.
“Like, ‘What happened?’ We did everything right, I think. I’m not a cocky person. I’m not arrogant. People told me I was going to get nominated. The world told me. Like, ‘This is it; this is your year.’ We were all very confused.”
He added: “If you were like, ‘Do you think the Grammys are racist?’ I think the only real answer is that in the last 61 years of the Grammys, only 10 Black artists have won album of the year,” he said. “I don’t want to make this about me. That’s just a fact.”
Hist Album After Hours is listed as the fourth best-selling album of the year in the US, with Blinding Lights making it to the top 10 for the longest time ever in US chart history.
Several artists echoed The Weeknd’s comments, including Sir Elton John, who wrote on Instagram: “In my humble opinion, Blinding Lights [is] the song of the year.” The musician, whose 1970 classic Your Song is sampled on After Hours, tagged his post #GrammySnub.
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