Just Bieber’s Grammy shutout no reason to weep

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Oh, to weep once more for Justin Bieber.

When it comes to the Grammy Awards, arguably commercial music’s biggest night and the star equivalent to the Stanley Cup, in a manner of speaking, the singing and songwriting son of Stratford, Ont., suffered another shutout.

Coming to the competition as Canada’s leading nominee with eight potential victories — among them, such biggies as Record and Song of the Year for “Peaches,” and Album of the Year for “Justice (Triple Chucks Deluxe)” — the only gold that the Biebs received came in the form of a goose egg.

And assuming the humble heartthrob cared about the results as much as his multi-million-member fan base did, there would have been salt rubbed in the wounds for two reasons: the first being he reportedly begged Grammy parent the Recording Academy to perform on the show in front of eight million viewers (he did a soulful rendition of “Peaches” with fellow Canuck Daniel Caesar and R&B basso profundo Giveon) with the quid-pro-quo expectation he’d be rewarded a statuette for his efforts; the second that The Weeknd, who denounced the Grammys after last year’s top-selling album “After Hours” was brutally snubbed, actually won one for his work on Kanye West’s “Hurricane,” voted the Best Melodic Rap Performance.

That’s right: Bieber — willing to do anything for the academy — lost to out-and-out Grammy detractor The Weeknd, who supposedly didn’t want the award in the first place.

Lord, where is the justice?

It should be noted that the 28-year-old Bieber has won two Grammys, but both for extracurricular interests: in 2015, for adding vocals to the Skrillex and Diplo Best Dance Recording “Where Are Ü Now” and, in 2019, for teaming up with Dan and Shay on Best Country Duo or Group Performance “10,000 Hours.”

But on the other 20 nominations — including Best New Artist, four for “Purpose”-related material, three more for “Changes” last year and four for the Luis Fonsi/Daddy Yankee smash “Despacito”— Bieber came up empty.

His loyal fan base, known as the Beliebers, registered their dissatisfaction on social media, with Liana @SECONDEMOTIONS tweeting, “Justin Bieber has been in the industry for too long … and continues to get disrespected by the recording academy” and Joneti @jarianaoutdid echoing, “Justin bieber has ZERO grammys for his solo career when he has been the only hitmaker in pop to be consistent … no words.”

But if Bieber was disappointed, he didn’t express it on Twitter (114.3 million followers) or Instagram (228 million followers).

And maybe this is the lesson here: perhaps winning a Grammy is one of the less important matters to this relatively young adult who has not only grown up in the spotlight, but survived and flourished.

The Recording Industry Association of America has certified 150 million recordings sold, including 21 million albums and more than 100 million singles for which people have shelled out good coin. He has accumulated 79 million monthly listeners on Spotify and three of his top five most popular hits — “STAY,” his duet with Kid Laroi, “Peaches” and “Love Yourself” — have clocked more than one billion airplays and, unlike most artists, he’s making real royalty money on the platform. (And that excludes the amounts he makes on Tidal, Apple and others.)

He’s in the midst of his 117-date “Justice” world tour — which returns to Toronto for two more Scotiabank Arena sellouts on June 7 and 8 — and his last world tour, “Purpose,” grossed $257 million (U.S.) and that’s minus merchandising sales.

He’s managed to shake the teen Tiger Beat syndrome and evolved into a rather decent songwriter (“Love Yourself,” “Sorry” and “Lonely” are prime proof) and his niche “feature” role as “fixer” to the stars — if you want a hit, call the Biebs — has provided a much needed Midas Touch to such chart-topping artists as Ludacris, will.i.am, DJ Khaled, DJ Snake, Ariana Grande and Ed Sheeran.

On a personal note, he’s seems to have found his soulmate in the former Hailey Baldwin and keeps God close to his heart.

With his future financial security and, one hopes, personal happiness on solid footing, Bieber can focus on other things with proper perspective.

And here’s what he wrote recently on Twitter, edited for context:

“I don’t know about these award shows … No disrespect to anybody at any of the shows or the people running it. Nothing but love for you guys and your support. But I don’t feel good when I’m there nor after. I … can’t help feeling like people are rating and grading my performance.

“When I’m doing a regular show I feel they are there for the right reasons and to strictly have a good time! But these awards shows seem so hollow …

“If I’m living my purpose I want the reward to be fulfilment … When I do get these awards the temptation of putting my worth in what I do is so hard to fight!!! I am privileged and honored (sic) to be recognized by my peers but in these settings I can’t feel the recognition. There’s an authenticity missing that I crave! And I wonder does anybody else …”

So how many tears should we shed for Justin Bieber not adding any Grammy statuettes to his mantlepiece?

Nary a one, friends. Nary a one.

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