SILK SONIC OPTS OUT OF THE GRAMMYS

Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak are pulling their An Evening With Silk Sonic album from Grammy consideration, Rolling Stone reports.

Mars made a statement to the magazine: “We truly put our all on this record, but Silk Sonic would like to gracefully, humbly and most importantly, sexually, bow out of submitting our album this year. We hope we can celebrate with everyone on a great year of music and partake in the party. Thank you for letting Silk Sonic thrive.”

The album’s lead single, “Leave the Door Open,” won Song and Record of the Year at this year’s ceremony in addition to two R&B wins; the duo also performed at the ceremony. Their album, released in November, was expected to be a contender for Album of the Year as well as in other categories.

“Andy and I, and everyone that worked on this project, won the moment the world responded to ‘Leave The Door Open.’ Everything else was just icing on the cake,” Mars said. “We thank the Grammys for allowing us to perform on their platform—not once but twice—and awarding us at last year’s ceremony. We’d be crazy to ask for anything more.

“Thank you to everyone that supported this project and championed it.”