The Weeknd is officially boycotting the Grammys, the singer told The New York Times.
The pop star said he will no longer submit songs for the music industry’s most prestigious annual awards show after it declined to nominate him for a single accolade for his hit single “Blinding Lights,” which has spent 52 weeks in the top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The news comes as the organization behind the Grammys is facing scrutiny over its secretive voting system and alleged biases against Black and female artists. The 63rd annual event will air this Sunday.
CNN has reached out to The Weeknd for comment.
The singer has taken issue in particular with the lack of transparency on the voting process for the most coveted awards. Nominations are chosen by members of the Recording Academy, a Santa Monica, California-based nonprofit whose membership is composed of industry artists, producers and executives and other staffers.
But since 1995, the most coveted Grammy awards — including Best New Artist, Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Album of the Year — have been chosen by a secret committee of academy members, according to Billboard.
The committee process was originally put in place to ensure the final nominations were more progressive and “musically adventurous,” Billboard reported. But the process has come under fire in recent years in response to Black artists like The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar repeatedly getting snubbed in so-called “Big Four” Grammy categories.
