The Weeknd Boycotts The 2022 Grammy As Promised But Still Wins

The Weeknd, otherwise known as Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, still feels indifferent about the Grammys, as he has previously expressed where he stood regarding the Recording Academy.

He has been a recipient of four Grammys in the past and several other music awards, including nineteen Billboard Music Awards, fifteen Juno Awards, six American Music Awards, and others.

Despite the Canadian music star’s plan to boycott the annual award show every year, he still won a Grammy for his feature on Kanye 'Ye' West’s "Hurricane."

As PEOPLE noted, The Weeknd won the award for best melodic rap performance on “Hurricane.” It was announced during a pre-show program but was not broadcasted during the main show.

The singer is probably unconcerned with the broadcast as he mentioned in the recent past that “he was done with the Recording Academy.”

He publicly announced his intentions to boycott every Grammy Award after his album “After Hours” was given the cold shoulder.

The Weeknd told The New York Times then, “Because of the secret committees, I will no longer allow my label to submit my music to the Grammys.”

The Recording Academy was not too happy with the news as the CEO, Harvey Mason Jr, stated that they were all disappointed when anyone was upset but were also "constantly evolving." Mason also promised:

"And this year, as in past years, we are going to take a hard look at how to improve our awards process, including the nomination review committees."

Before that, The Weeknd told Billboard in January 2021 that he believed his album being snubbed was "an attack" and proclaimed that the Grammys was corrupt.

The three awards he received before then: one in 2015 for "Earned It" and “Beauty Behind the Madness” and another in 2017 for “Starboy,” were insignificant to him as he mentioned that he did not care anymore. He said:

"I have three Grammys, which mean nothing to me now, obviously. 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 following year, after the controversial snub, The Weeknd initiated his boycott as he failed to submit any of his creations for the 2022 awards program.

However, the Grammy board members reflected on their past actions as The Blast confirmed that the icon was nominated for three awards, including two for Album of The Year.

Fans believed the committee was making an effort to win the versatile vocalist back after he did not get any accolades from them in 2020 despite his impressive compositions.

Fortunately, The Weeknd’s frostiness with the Grammys did not affect his other endeavors as he performed some hit songs, including “Blinding Lights,” “Starboy,” and “Earned It” at Super Bowl LV in Tampa.

“Blinding Lights” was reportedly one of two singles from his “After Hours” album that got to the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The second single was “Heartless.”

At the time, “Blinding Lights” was the most dominant record of the century as it was certified 8x platinum in the States and became the longest-charting song in Billboard history for being part of the top 10 for a whole year.

The Weeknd released his fifth studio album titled “Dawn FM” earlier this year, and prior to its release, he mentioned some vital parts of the project, acknowledging those who inspire him and those he holds dear.

The Blast previously shared that The Weeknd made his announcement to boycott the Grammy Awards several hours before last year’s edition of the annual program.

The boycott will reportedly go on for the rest of his career, and he released a statement regarding his decision.

In the statement, he referred to the secret committees; they are responsible for making the final decisions of Grammy nominees in every category after reviewing numerous votes from Recording Academy members.

The committee members can also include names that were not chosen by voters, enabling society’s influential people to partake in cagey transactions.

In light of the matter, the Grammy’s president stated that he could empathize with what the 32-year-old was feeling as his music that year was outstanding and admirable.

The head congratulated the Grammy nominees and stated that they were all acknowledged by the voting body for their excellence.