The Weeknd: Grammys 'mean nothing to me' after nominations snub

The Weeknd has said he no longer cares about being snubbed by the Grammys, after getting zero nominations for this year's event.

The singer is preparing to headline the Super Bowl half-time show on 7 February, and was asked by Billboard how he felt about last November's snub.

"Look, I personally don't care any more. I have three Grammys, which mean nothing to me now, obviously," he said.

"I suck at giving speeches anyways. Forget awards 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 Canadian performer, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, said his focus is now 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 show's organisers are as usual covering all production costs, the singer put up $7m (£5m) of his own money to "make this half-time show be what he envisioned".

The singer famously put on attention-grabbing shows when he won major prizes at August's MTV VMAs, appearing on stage with a bloodied face, and at November's American Music Awards, where his 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.

When the Grammy nominations were announced, Tesfaye accused the organisers of being "corrupt", given the success of his number one album After Hours and the hit single Blinding Lights.

The Grammys' response was that they "empathised" with his disappointment but that some "deserving" acts missed out every year.

Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Dua Lipa are leading the nominations for the 2021 Grammy Awards, with Beyoncé up for nine, and Swift and Lipa up for six each.

Tesfaye discussed his current feelings about 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."

After Hours was listed as the fourth-biggest selling album of the year in the US, while Blinding Lights is the longest-running top 10 hit in US chart history.

Several artists sided with The Weeknd's comments, including Sir Elton John, who wrote on Instagram: "In my humble opinion, Blinding Lights [is] song of the year." The musician, whose 1970 classic Your Song is sampled on After Hours, tagged his post #GrammySnub.

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