Grammys flashback: In 2018 The Weeknd won for ‘Starboy,’ the album right before his boycott

The Weeknd has a complicated relationship with the Grammys. He was expected to be showered with nominations in 2021 after the success of his song “Blinding Lights” and its parent album “After Hours,” but the pop/R&B superstar ended up getting completely shut out. This led him to accuse the Grammys of corruption, and he vowed never to submit his music for consideration again. But it didn’t used to be like this at all. In fact, both of The Weeknd’s albums preceding “After Hours” took home Grammy Awards, and he seemed pretty content with them. One of those albums was his 2016 release “Starboy,” which produced some of his most iconic hits including “Die For You,” which had a surprise resurgence in 2023. So let’s take a look at how that album managed to become a Grammy winner, and how it might have differed from his material that was snubbed.

Before “Starboy” The Weeknd was already a household name due to the underground success of his “Trilogy” and “Kiss Land” albums in the R&B scene, and then his pop breakthrough “Beauty Behind The Madness.” With hits like the chart-toppers “Can’t Feel My Face” and “The Hills,” The Weeknd was truly on a roll, and that extended to award shows too. At the 2016 Grammys, he received seven nominations, including Record of the Year (“Can’t Feel My Face”) and Album of the Year (“Beauty Behind the Madness”). He also likely would’ve received a Best New Artist nomination and won had he not been nominated as a featured artist two years prior. He ultimately won two of his nominations: Best R&B Performance for “Earned It” and Best Progressive R&B Album for “Beauty.”

Then a year after “Beauty” he came out with “Starboy,” led by the single of the same name featuring Daft Punk. The album was a success from the get-go. Many praised its more pop-leaning sound compared to his previous work, and its ’80s references as well. Whether “Starboy” was R&B or pop was itself a topic of some debate. The Weeknd himself chimed in years later and asserted that “Starboy” was a pop album and that it was “not fair” to group so many diverse Black artists into the same R&B categories. Nevertheless, “Starboy” competed in the R&B field — specifically, in Best Urban Contemporary Album.

When Grammy nominations came, “Starboy” was only present in the Urban Contemporary Album category. This wasn’t necessarily a surprise, as the album was already a year old by the time it was voted on and it had only produced one other major hit at the time, the top-five smash “I Feel it Coming” also featuring Daft Punk. Still, the album seemed to have a good shot at Album of the Year based on our predictions at the time, and it could have also gotten in for the singles “I Feel It Coming” or “Reminder.” None of those other noms came to pass, though.

The album was nominated against three heavy hitters. SZA’s debut studio album “Ctrl” was one of the most acclaimed of the year and of the decade. Khalid’s “American Teen” was also a huge debut. And then there was Childish Gambino’s “Awaken, My Love!,” which was nominated for Album of the Year and included the smash hit “Redbone.” Rounding out the category was 6LACK’s “Free 6LACK.” While “Starboy” was the biggest hit out of these, SZA and Childish Gambino were considered stronger contenders for the win. It didn’t help The Weeknd’s case that he was the only person in the category who wasn’t nominated anywhere else, and that SZA, Khalid, and Gambino all had general field nominations, plus additional R&B noms for their songs.

“Starboy’s” eventual win against SZA and Gambino was likely the result of a few factors. First, it was the most commercial choice against two nominees pushed by critics, and there likely wasn’t a strong enough consensus around one of those critics’ picks. Also helpful to The Weeknd was that his album straddled pop and R&B successfully, meaning he likely got support from R&B voters as well as pop voters. Being the lone nomination for the album could’ve helped too, since academy members who loved it only had that one category to support it in.

While “Starboy’s” lone nomination did show early signs of the Grammys’ ambivalence towards The Weeknd, it was nice to see it win the award. Plus, SZA has since won a Grammy and Gambino has won five, so it’s not like this was their last chance at recognition. “Starboy’s” win was further vindicated in the long run by the fact that it notched a number-one hit song seven years after its release. The Weeknd is truly an unstoppable artist, even if he has stopped giving the Grammys the time of day.

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