The Grammy Awards has earned a reputation as the music industry’s biggest, most star-studded awards show, yet it appears that three of music’s hottest stars will be sitting out this year’s ceremony.
Despite being nominated in numerous categories, sources have confirmed to Us Weekly that Drake, Justin Bieber and Kanye West won’t be attending the 2017 Grammys, to be held Sunday, Feb. 12 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, apparently confirming an earlier report from TMZ that the three chart-toppers won’t be attending.
According to TMZ, Bieber “doesn’t think the Grammys are relevant or representative, especially when it comes to young singers.” Bieber, who won his first Grammy last year for “Where Are U Now”, also performed at the 2016 ceremony. This year, he’s nominated for four Grammys, including Album of the Year for “Purpose” and Song of the Year for “Love Yourself.”
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As for West, the mercurial rapper famously threatened to boycott the 2017 Grammys if Frank Ocean wasn’t nominated; in a bizarre turn of events, neither of Ocean’s latest offerings — “Blonde” and his visual album “Endless” — received any nominations because they weren’t submitted in time for the Grammy nomination deadline.
Whether West plans to make good on that promise or not, a source tells Us Weekly that he’s planning to lay low for the next little while following his hospitalization and wife Kim Kardashian’s Paris robbery. “He is taking some personal time at the top of this year to just chill and decompress,” the insider claimed.
Drake, however, has a very good excuse for skipping the Grammys: he’ll be on tour in Europe at the time, scheduled to perform a show in Manchester, England, on Grammy night. The Toronto rapper could still win a Grammy or two in absentia, since he’s up for eight awards this year, including several for his latest album, “Views”.
ET Canada has reached out to reps for Bieber and Drake but has yet to receive confirmation they won’t be at this year’s awards.
