The Weeknd on Grammys Changes ... Meh

Singer still won't be submitting his music
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted May 4, 2021 12:03 AM CDT
The Weeknd Not Convinced by Grammys Changes
The Weeknd performs during the halftime show of the NFL Super Bowl 55 football game on Feb. 7, 2021, in Tampa, Fla.   (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

After this year's controversial Grammy Awards, from which The Weeknd was completely shut out, the Grammys are making some changes—but it's too little, too late for the singer. "I remain uninterested in being a part of the Grammys, especially with their own admission of corruption for all these decades. I will not be submitting in the future," he told Variety in a wide-ranging interview after the organization announced the changes. The Recording Academy is doing away with the secretive nominations review committees that were blamed for The Weeknd not receiving any nods this year. The chairman and interim chief executive tells the Los Angeles Times the changes have been in motion since last summer, and weren't directly related to the controversy involving The Weeknd.

The Weeknd notes that transparency is important, and the changes are a good start, but says that "the trust has been broken for so long between the Grammy organization and artists that it would be unwise to raise a victory flag" so soon. He adds that he has bigger concerns on his mind: "Right now my concern is what’s happening in my home country of Ethiopia and encourage people to be aware of what is happening and donate where they can." He himself has donated $1 million toward war relief efforts in the country. As for what happens now with the Grammys changes, Pitchfork explains that a majority vote of all academy members will now decide almost all of the nominees, rather than the committees. (More Recording Academy stories.)

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