Following alongside Kanye West and Lil Baby for Best Melodic Rap Performance for the song “Hurricane,” the R&B and pop singer teased that he may take a page out of Ye’s playbook by altering his stage name.
Ironically, both West and The Weeknd received the award despite not actually appearing at the ceremony itself. In The Weeknd’s case, this was due to him boycotting the Grammys last year following his album After Hours and the chart-topping song “Blinding Lights” being snubbed, ET Online reports.
In a statement to the New York Times, The Weeknd cited secretive committees that the Grammys use to make their nominations as the reason for his boycott. The Grammys have since announced — back in May of last year — that it would no longer use anonymous committees to determine nominations. Nevertheless, The Weeknd did not appear at the award show this year.
As for West, he was straight-up banned from performing at the event following his online behavior largely harassing comedian Pete Davidson on Instagram, a platform that also banned him. West also dropped out of headlining Coachella Monday morning.
The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, celebrated the victory on Twitter Sunday night.
In a nod to his collaborator, West, who legally changed his name to Ye last year, Tesfaye wrote, “you guys are hilarious. i feel like i should change my stage name to ABEL at this point lol.”
He continued, “maybe pull a YE and just legally change my name to ABEL. no last name. Like Madonna or Cher or Prince. I don’t know it seems like a lot.”
When Tesfaye pitched the new moniker, “ABEL formally known as The Weeknd?,” to the world, a fellow Grammy-winner chimed in.
“ABEL is dope,” replied R&B singer and EGOT alum John Legend.
Tesfaye responded by saying he’s “tempted” to make the change official, though he could just be pulling our collective leg.
The win for “Hurricane,” off of Ye’s album Donda from last year, represents the first Grammy Award for Lil Baby and the fourth and 24th win for Tesfaye and Ye, respectively. Ye also won a Grammy for Best Rap Song for “Jail” on Sunday.
Published: Apr 4, 2022 02:06 pm