The Weeknd Walks Back Retirement of His Stage Name
The Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye) told a recent Stockholm crowd he's not putting the stage name away — reversing his earlier stated plan to retire it after the January 2025 album Hurry Up Tomorrow. "I'll never disappear," he said onstage, adding that he'd "tried retirement for a bit but didn't like the feeling." NME reports the comments came during the European leg of his After Hours Til Dawn tour, now the highest-grossing tour ever by a male solo artist.
Tour dates and production
The European leg opened last month in Copenhagen, following two shows at Manchester's Etihad Stadium. Next up is the UK and Ireland:
- August 14, 15, 16, 18, 19 — London, Wembley Stadium (five nights)
- August 22, 23 — Dublin, Croke Park (two nights)
After Europe, the tour moves to Asia, with dates planned in Tokyo, Jakarta, Singapore, Seoul, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur. Exact dates for these Asian stops have not yet been announced.
The stage centerpiece is a 40-foot gold sculpture by Japanese artist Hajime Sorayama — described as the largest fine-art commission ever built for a concert tour — alongside a large gold ruin-style structure, immersive projections, lasers and flame effects.
Box office and charity partnership
Since launching in 2022, the tour has grossed over $1 billion (about £740 million) and sold more than 7.5 million tickets. It continues a partnership with Global Citizen, directing a portion of each ticket toward education and food aid for children in need — over $8.5 million raised so far for the XO Humanitarian Fund and Global Citizen.
From shelving the name to walking it back
Tesfaye has released music as The Weeknd since 2011. The January 2025 album Hurry Up Tomorrow closed out the "Blinding Lights" trilogy that began with 2020's After Hours and continued with 2022's Dawn FM, and it was originally set to be the final album under this stage name.
He had previously explained his reasoning for stepping away, saying that keeping up the persona required entering a specific mental state that had turned into a race — "it never ends unless you end it yourself." He stressed he wasn't quitting music altogether, but wanted to step back while still at his peak, pointing to a 2022 show at LA's SoFi Stadium where he lost his voice mid-performance of "Can't Feel My Face" and the concert was ultimately canceled at halftime.