Pink Floyd‘s Roger Waters has hit out at The Weeknd and Drake, saying that he is “far, far, far more important than any of them will ever be”.
In a recent interview with Toronto’s The Globe and Mail, Waters asked the interviewer why his recent shows in the Canadian city weren’t reviewed by the publication or any others in the area.
He was then told that The Weeknd was set to open his ‘After Hours ‘Til Dawn’ tour in Toronto on the same night (the show ended up being cancelled due to power outages in the region).
Waters then responded: “I have no idea what or who the Weeknd is, because I don’t listen to much music. People have told me he’s a big act. Well, good luck to him. I’ve got nothing against him. Would it not have been possible to review his show one night and my show another night?”
He went on: “I’m not trying to make a personal attack. I’m just saying it seemed odd. And, by the way, with all due respect to the Weeknd or Drake or any of them, I am far, far, far more important than any of them will ever be, however many billions of streams they’ve got. There is stuff going on here that is fundamentally important to all of our lives.”
After The Weeknd postponed his Toronto show, the star – real name Abel Tesfaye – flew out a six-year-old superfan to his Philadelphia tour opener this week (July 14).
After the hometown show and planned tour curtain raiser was postponed due to a nationwide power outage of Canada’s main telecommunications company, Rogers, footage went viral on Twitter of a young fan dressed as The Weeknd from the ‘Blinding Lights’ video crying and being consoled outside the venue.
The Weeknd then made a callout online for someone to identify the child in question, who was then revealed to be six-year-old Phoenix Prince.
In an interview with CBC, Prince’s father Blake said: “Phoenix was getting attention with his suit. We had a breakdown moment. He got upset over the fact the show was postponed, and somebody captured a picture.”
After the Toronto cancellation, The Weeknd’s tour then began in Philadelphia on Thursday night (July 14), and the pop star flew Phoenix and his father out as special guests to the show, posing backstage and getting his ‘Blinding Lights’ suit signed.
Sharing photos on Instagram, Blake wrote: “I wouldn’t be able to put this last week into words if I tried. We are forever grateful for this moment. We are beyond thankful to Abel and his beautiful crew for their friendship, hospitality, generosity and for spending day with Phoenix and I. He will cherish this experience forever. Thank you a million times over.”
‘After Hours Til Dawn’ will take The Weeknd next to New York, Chicago, Miami, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Vancouver, San Francisco, Los Angeles and more. New support acts for his upcoming North American stadium concerts were recently announced after Doja Cat was forced to pull out.
The post Roger Waters hits out at The Weeknd and Drake: “I am far, far, far more important than any of them will ever be” appeared first on NME.
