Although the 67th Grammy Awards are long past, viewers are still reeling about this year's surprise performance. For the first time in three years, Canada’s beloved Superstar, The Weeknd made a shocking return to the ceremony with a full-stage performance complete with backing vocals from Playboi Carti. Before the 67th Grammy Awards, The Weeknd had been publicly boycotting the award show by refusing to submit any of his music for consideration.
Abel Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd, had claimed there was a lack of transparency and fairness in the award process, leading to his public decision to step away. For some, this may have seemed like a petty move, as it came after his record-breaking album After Hours was completely snubbed from the award show. In reality, The Weeknd sparked change through his boycott, bringing forth essential change within the recording academy, with the CEO, Harvey Mason Jr, saying “I heard him [Tesfaye], and I felt his conviction”.
Right before The Weeknd touched down on stage, Harvey Mason Jr shared a long speech discussing just how much progress had been made within the recording academy over the three years. First, they “launched initiatives like the Black Music Collective, Women in the Mix, Academy Proud, and Others.” On top of this, they’ve “re-made their membership” by adding 3,000 female voting members, focusing on bringing in younger voters, having nearly 40% of their voters being people of colour, and 66% percent of the members being new since they started this transformation. As mentioned multiple times throughout the award show, the Recording Academy now has 13,000 voting members, with everyone being ruled by fairness, integrity and the principle that “every voice in our community matters”.
Mason Jr also acknowledged that “there is still work to be done” but he “firmly believes that we’re on the right path”. This progression of the Recording Academy allowed The Weeknd to return to the Grammy Stage, playing a medley of ‘Cry For Me’ and ‘Timeless’ off his new album Hurry Up Tomorrow which was released on January 31st. This will be his last album under the pseudonym “The Weeknd”, making his return to the stage that much more impactful, feeling as if he’s tying up the loose ends of this era of his life.
You can listen to Hurry Up Tomorrow now on streaming platforms and catch the 4-time Grammy Award Winning artist on his 42-date Headliner Tour this summer with special guests Playboi Carti and Mike Dean.
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