In February, the Weeknd slipped into the 2025 Grammy Awards without anyone noticing. He’d been working alongside the Recording Academy for four months to plan his grand return to the ceremony. It had to be kept a secret for dramatic effect and theatrics of that nature. The singer had fallen out with the awards body in 2020 after his album After Hours — and its monumentally colossal single “Blinding Lights” — received zero nominations. He vowed to boycott the show and bar his label from submitting any future releases for consideration, including what might actually be his career triumph, Dawn FM .

Backstage at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena, the Weeknd prepared to storm the stage with over 100 dancers and an assist from Playboi Carti. Meanwhile, the audience watched as Recording A

See Full Page