According to Vibe, Drake and The Weeknd have decided to skip the Grammy Awards in 2023. This is the second year that both Canadian singers have passed up the opportunity to attend the ceremony.
The two musicians, who have worked together for more than a decade, have both, on completely separate occasions in the past, voiced their dissatisfaction with the behind-the-scenes operations of the Recording Academy. This organization is responsible for the awards, which many people consider to be the most prestigious honor that can be achieved in the music industry.
After the Grammys ignored his critically acclaimed and commercially successful 2020 album After Hours, which included the song “Blinding Lights,” The Weeknd said in 2021 that he would no longer attend.
The Save, Your Tears singer purportedly aimed the Recording Academy’s opaque voting method in picking candidates and winners when he told the New York Times in March 2021, “Because of the hidden panels, I will no longer accept my label to present my work to the Grammys.”
In an interview with Billboard that was announced earlier that year, in January 2021, The Weeknd, whose true name is Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, expressed his frustrations.
Let me be clear: I couldn’t care less about this anymore. In an interview with a music magazine, he stated, “I have three Grammys, but they mean nothing to me now.” I am not good at public speaking in any case. So put award shows out of your mind.
The musician, who is 32 years old, went on to say, “I use a sucker punch as an analogy.” He was referring to his first shock at being passed for the award. Because it seemed to come out of nowhere and surprise me. I felt … I had sensations. I’m not sure whether it was grief or rage that I felt. I believe there was merely some confusion. Simply put, I needed answers. So, what exactly took place?