The Weeknd Slams the Grammys Again, This Time Over His Planned Performance

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorIn what is surely an unprecedented moment for the Grammy Awards Best Children’s Album category, three of the five 2021 nominees  are asking the Recording Academy to rescind their nominations.“We are deeply grateful to the Recording Academy and its voting members for the honor we’ve received, but we can’t in good conscience benefit from a process that has — both this year and historically — so overlooked women, performers of colors, and most especially Black

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorNew Grammy Awards executive producer Ben Winston says he is “looking to do something quite exciting with independent venues” either in or around the 2021 show, according to a comment in an interview with Billboard.Responding to a question about what might be new with the 2021 show, Winston responds, “I’m so struck by the independent music venues around the world, and I’m aware of how hard hit that side of the industry has been.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAfter actor Tiffany Haddish told Variety that she had been invited to host the Grammy Awards Premiere ceremony but turned down the offer after being told that she would have to pay her own way, Recording Academy interim chief Harvey Mason, jr. posted a public apology on social media, and said that he had apologized to her personally as well.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorTo celebrate the (slightly more than) one-year anniversary of its release, The Weeknd and superstar Spanish singer Rosalía have teamed up for a remix of “Blinding Lights,” Variety’s Hitmakers Record of the Year and one of the biggest hits in recent memory.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” is indisputably one of the landmark songs of 2020 —and the only reason it isn’t even more dominant is because it was released on Nov.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe Weeknd, Doja Cat, Ty Dolla $ign, Brandy, Bebe Rexha, Nav, Bryson Tiller, French Montana — that’s not the top of a 2020 singles or albums chart. Those are just a few of the artists handled by the rapidly growing Salxco, the management-and-more concern founded by Wassim “Sal” Slaiby.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs they do at this time every year, Spotify has unveiled the top artists, albums, tracks, playlists and podcasts that its 320 million users streamed the most in its survey 2020.MUSIC (GLOBAL)PODCASTS (GLOBAL) Spotify 2020 Wrapped Global Top Lists:Most Streamed Artists GloballyMost Streamed Female ArtistsMost Streamed Albums GloballyMost Streamed Songs GloballyMost Popular Podcasts GloballyMost Popular Podcast Genres GloballySpotify 2020 Wrapped U.S. Top Lists U.S.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorThe Thanksgiving break has done little to calm the anger over the Grammy Awards’ baffling shutout of The Weeknd and several other artists from the 2021 nominations, and on Saturday Halsey — who was herself shut out from nominations — took to Instagram to air her feelings on the issue, as have Drake, Elton John, Kid Cudi, Charlie Puth and others.In a social media post last week, The Weeknd accused the Recording Academy of being “still corrupt,” which prompted a

Bella Hadid, Drake and more celebrities are joining forces in support of The Weeknd, whose stellar album After Hours was snubbed by the 2021 Grammy nominations.Nominees for the 63rd annual music awards show were announced on Tuesday, November 24, and artists like Beyoncé and Taylor Swift came away with a handful of well-deserved nods.

The Weeknd is continuing to call out the 2021 Grammys.

After Hours, spent weeks topping charts.In response to being snubbed by the Recording Academy, the Weeknd hopped on Twitter and wrote "The Grammys remain corrupt. You owe me, my fans and the industry transparency..."The Grammys remain corrupt.

For the most part, the nominees for the 2021 Grammy Awards, announced earlier today, seem pretty standard. Beyoncé was the most nominated artist despite not releasing an album in the past year, Taylor Swift's folklore is up for Album of the Year against Post Malone, HAIM, Jacob Collier, and more, and Megan Thee Stallion is set to compete for Best New Artist.

The Weeknd is calling out the Grammys after receiving zero nominations.  On Tuesday, the artist, whose real name is Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, tweeted: "The Grammys remain corrupt." He added that the Recording Academy "owes" him, his fans as well as the music industry "transparency." According to Vulture, The Weeknd's album, "After Hours," which was released in March, spent four weeks on the Billboard 200 and has been certified platinum four times.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorToward the end of a dramatic day that saw The Weeknd, whose music has dominated 2020, shut out of all Grammy nominations, leading him to accuse the Recording Academy of corruption and a lack of transparency, Recording Academy chief Harvey Mason, jr.

The Weeknd is calling out the GRAMMYs.