The Weeknd has donated more than $10 million to multiple charitable causes in the past five years, from coronavirus relief to Gaza humanitarian aid to Los Angeles wildfire recovery, and he stepped up again by overlooking a grievous 2021 snub from the Grammy Awards to perform at the ceremony on Sunday, which has been overhauled to include wildfire-relief elements.
After a lengthy introduction from Grammys chief Harvey Mason Jr. talking about The Weeknd’s past criticisms of the Recording Academy, The Weeknd sang two new songs from his just-released album “Hurry Up Tomorrow.” The singer opened with “Cry for Me” and followed it with “Timeless,” which included a performance from Playboi Carti, who is featured on the studio recording.
The music world was stunned in 2020 when the Weeknd, whose smash single “Blinding Lights” shattered streaming records all over the globe (and remains the most-streamed song in Spotify history), was nominated for zero awards that year — a shocking development that led to Mason Jr. leading an overhaul of the show’s awards department and process. However, in the years since, the Weeknd has declined to submit his music for the awards. Thus, his appearance on Sunday night was even more of a surprise.
From Variety US