Elton John supports The Weeknd over Grammy nominations snub

British pop icon Elton John has declared The Weeknd's smash hit song Blinding Lights as his personal choice for Song and Record of the Year.

John took to Instagram to express his support for the Canadian singer following his Grammy nominations snub on Wednesday.

He posted the song's artwork, starting his caption with "In my humble opinion..." before calling Blinding Lights both song and record of the year, along with the #GrammySnub hashtag.

The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, hit out at the Recording Academy on Wednesday after his critically acclaimed album After Hours and its chart-topping singles were overlooked for next year's ceremony.

Besides labelling the Grammys "corrupt", Tesfaye tweeted that the Academy "owe me, my fans and the industry transparency".

Recording Academy chair Harvey Mason later responded to the singer via Rolling Stone, explaining in a statement that "there are fewer nominations than the number of deserving artists".

He said that he was also surprised The Weeknd did not receive any nominations, and confirmed reports that the artist was originally expected to perform at the Grammys on Jan 31, as well as the Super Bowl the following week.

However, he denied that negotiations around playing both high-profile shows - which sources allege became contentious - had any role in The Weeknd getting shut out of nominations lists this year.

"To be clear, voting in all categories ended well before The Weeknd's performance at the Super Bowl was announced, so in no way could it have affected the nomination process," said Mr Mason.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 27, 2020, with the headline Elton John supports The Weeknd over Grammy nominations snub. Subscribe