SINGAPORE - Following The Weeknd's Grammy nominations snubs on Wednesday, 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. 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 latest critically acclaimed album After Hours and its chart-topping singles were overlooked for the 2021 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".

In his response, he said that he too was surprised that The Weeknd did not receive any nominations, and confirms reports that the artist was originally expected to perform at the Grammys on January 31, as well as the Super Bowl the following week.

However, he denies that negotiations around playing both high profile shows - which sources allege became contentious - had any role in The Weeknd not making the 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.