The Weeknd steps back from retiring his stage name

The Weeknd has backed away from his plan to retire the name he records under, telling a crowd in Stockholm this month, "I'll never disappear. I love this too much to ever disappear." He added: "I tested retirement a little bit, and I don't like the way it feels. Imma be here forever with you."

The artist, born Abel Tesfaye, has recorded as The Weeknd since 2011, building a sound that moves between brooding R&B and soul and stadium-scale pop. In January 2025 he released Hurry Up Tomorrow, the sixth album under the name and the planned final entry in a trilogy that began with 2020's After Hours and Dawn FM. At the time he said the persona had been "mastered" and that he wanted to end the project while it still felt like a peak, pointing to a 2022 show at SoFi Stadium where he lost his voice and cancelled partway through.

The reversal comes during his After Hours Til Dawn tour, which kicked off its European leg in Copenhagen last month after two dates at Manchester's Etihad Stadium. The run has passed $1 billion in gross revenue and sold more than 7.5 million tickets since it began in 2022, making it the highest-grossing tour ever by a male solo artist. Along the way, The Weeknd has staged a 40-foot gold sculpture by Japanese artist Hajime Sorayama, described as the largest fine-art commission ever created for a live concert production, alongside sprawling golden ruins, lasers and flames.

The tour also continues The Weeknd's partnership with Global Citizen, with a portion of every ticket sold going toward education access for underprivileged children and food relief. He has donated more than $8.5 million to the XO Humanitarian Fund and Global Citizen through the tour to date, NME reported.

The Weeknd returns to the UK for five nights at Wembley Stadium, on August 14, 15, 16, 18 and 19, where a fireworks display drew criticism after a wildfire alert, then plays two shows at Dublin's Croke Park on August 22 and 23 before the tour moves into Asia for dates including Tokyo, Jakarta, Singapore, Seoul, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Kuala Lumpur.

The Stockholm comments were not an isolated remark: days later, at a show outside the city, he repeated the same message with more detail about the years of hints that preceded it. For now, no new album has been announced to go with the reversal.