Latest news with #Weeknd
Los Angeles Times
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
The Weeknd conquers SoFi Stadium with an immaculate performance before retiring his all-consuming pop moniker
No pop artist today has a more tangled relationship to a venue than the Weeknd has with SoFi Stadium. First, he chose SoCal's flagship stadium as the site to film the denouement of his cult-campy HBO series 'The Idol' during one of his concerts. Unfortunately, during the set, he lost his voice four songs in and had to send fans home for the night so he could recover and make up the date. For such a perfectionist, that must have been a body blow. He rebounded a few months later with a triumphal return and the concert doc 'The Weeknd: Live at SoFi Stadium.' But that nerve-racking experience stuck with him. He revisited it again in his recent feature film (and album) 'Hurry Up Tomorrow,' where a fictional version of the Weeknd loses his voice onstage, kicking off a surrealist, violent night with Jenna Ortega. A brief interlude from that LP is titled 'I Can't F— Sing.' So Abel Tesfaye must have had a range of mixed feelings when he walked out at SoFi on Wednesday night, the first of four nights at the site of some of his greatest triumphs and most bitter disappointments as a live performer. 'This is bigger than me — it's a reflection of the power of music and its impact on people,' Tesfaye told The Times in a brief email just before the show. This slickly cryptic, immaculately performed 2½-hour set covered the whole of his era-defining catalog. But is this run of SoFi dates a swan song to one of the most successful recording projects of our time? Since first emerging as an anonymous voice atop gothic, coked-up R&B productions on a trilogy of 2011 mixtapes, Tesfaye's tastes and his unlikely commercial success grew together. An underground fan base turned up for the nihilism of 'Wicked Games' ('Bring the drugs, baby, I could bring my pain.') But with assists from Max Martin and Daft Punk, he became a bona fide pop star. His mournful Ethiopian melodic lilt stood out like nothing else in Top 40, and he hung onto enough art-freak sensibility that he could headline the Super Bowl halftime show with dancers in full-face plastic-surgery bandages. His '80s-noir, 2019 single 'Blinding Lights' remains the most-streamed song on Spotify, ever. Darryl Eaton, his agent at CAA, told The Times that the 200,000 tickets sold for this SoFi run alone is 'like selling out an entire American city.' Yet Tesfaye has recently hinted at retiring the Weeknd as a premise. 'It's a headspace I've gotta get into that I just don't have any more desire for,' he told Variety recently. 'It never ends until you end it.' Whether he wants to release less conceptual, more personal music, or if he's simply run out of gas with this all-consuming pop entity he's created, this SoFi run is likely one of the last chances L.A. fans will get to see the Weeknd. Tesfaye will surely keep making music and films, but it makes cinematic sense that he'd come back to the scene of his most painful night onstage to put this all to bed. After a brief and typically roiling set from Tesfaye's recent collaborator Playboi Carti, Tesfaye emerged in black and gold, eyes lit with LED pinpicks, over a ruined cityscape. Opening with the 'BoJack Horseman'-riffing 'The Abyss,' he grimly promised, 'I tried my best to not let you go / I don't like the view from halfway down … I tried to be something that I'll never be.' It sure felt like he was saying goodbye to this way of being an artist. The show kicked into gear with Tesfaye surrounded by a trim live band and minimalist, moving-sculpture dancers in rose-colored robes. He didn't need much more to let that once-in-a-generation voice carry everything. Tesfaye's a uniquely dedicated live vocalist on the stadium circuit (it's kind of honorable that any serious vocal troubles might mean the show's over). For all his high-concept misdirections in videos and films, you could feel the troubled intimacy that's kept fans invested in this music over so many aesthetics. For all his close-reads of Michael Jackson's records on singles like 'Can't Feel My Face,' Tesfaye's not an especially physical dancer onstage. But he knows exactly how to inhabit and set-dress this music to make it eerie and monolithic, even at its poppiest. 'After Hours' made a seductive case for letting an obviously toxic man back into your life ('Different girls on the floor, distracting my thoughts of you.') After finally taking off his face mask, he played 'Take My Breath' like a revving, neo-disco floor-filler that still winked at the darker choke-kinks of his old music. When he cranked up the pyro on the midcareer lurker ballad 'The Hills,' the front rows of SoFi got a bracing reminder of how volatile this music is even when it sits atop streaming charts. Alongside Carti on their collaborations 'Timeless' and 'Rather Lie,' Tesfaye grounded his pal's smeary Atlanta noise with evilly pretty melody. This is a voice you just can't help but believe, even when it's calling you to self-destruction. If this tour is indeed at the end of his tenure as the Weeknd, at more than three dozen songs, Wednesday's set delivered every possible angle of valediction — the thrumming decadence of 'Often,' the desperate sincerity of 'Die for You' and 'Is There Someone Else?' Newer material like 'Cry for Me' and 'São Paolo' showed that, whatever his exhaustion with this aegis, he's got tons of startling ideas still brimming. When Tesfaye buried the hatchet with the Grammys back in February, it was a generous gesture to an organization that inexplicably locked him out of honors for 'Blinding Lights' that he should, obviously, have contended for. When he played that double-time, neo-New Wave single toward the end of his Wednesday set, it felt like a strange pearl that he'd discovered — one of the biggest pop songs of all time, played by a guy whose music emerged from a murk of MDMA licks and mournful threesomes. With perhaps the exception of his (exceedingly stylish if critically skeptical) film career, he's always found his voice, over and over again. SoFi Stadium has dealt the Weeknd his greatest defeat and some of his his finest hours as a performer. Now it's sending him off to Valhalla, wherever that takes Abel Tesfaye.
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Weeknd coming to Gillette Stadium this week
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (WWLP) – The Weeknd is returning to Gillette Stadium this week. When and where fireworks are taking place in western Mass. The global superstar will be performing his 'After Hours 'til Dawn Tour' this Tuesday and Wednesday. The record-breaking, diamond-certified artist will take the stage at the home of the Patriots and Revolution for the first time since 2022. There are still some seats available at Parking opens at 3:00 p.m., gates open at 5:00 p.m., and the show starts at 7:00 p.m. The Weeknd will be joined by Atlanta rapper Playboi Carti and special guest Mike Dean. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Weeknd Might Not Be Retiring His Music Persona After All
The Weeknd has teased that Hurry Up Tomorrow— his sixth album and upcoming film of the same name— also marks the end of the artist fans have grown to love for over 15 years. However, that may not necessarily be the case. While promoting the film at CinemaCon 2025, Abel Tesfaye told EW that this moment feels like both a death and resurrection. 'It feels like it [the end of the Weeknd]. I mean, I've kind of toyed with the idea in the past with albums,' he noted. 'But it could also just be a rebirth. Who knows?' Back in January, the 35-year-old announced plans to retire his alter ego. 'It's a headspace I've gotta get into that I just don't have any more desire for,' he explained to Variety. 'You have a persona, but then you have the competition of it all. It becomes this rat race: more accolades, more success, more shows, more albums, more awards and more No. 1s. It never ends until you end it.' Hurry Up Tomorrow marks the conclusion in the trilogy that began with 2020's After Hours, which was followed by 2022's Dawn FM. The film follows a fictionalized version of himself, also named Abel, who gets taken on an insane ride by a seductive stranger, Anima (Jenna Ortega). Director Trey Edward Shults, shared with EW in February that he 'tried to make the movie in a way where, for his fans and people who want to approach it at that level, I hope it's very satisfying and you get a good meal out of it.' Shults confirmed that it was an 'absolute possibility' that the movie would be The Weeknd's last hurrah chapter, adding 'For people that aren't his fans and don't know anything about him or even care about the final capping of the Weeknd, I think you still have a great movie to go through.' The Weeknd considers the film to be 'really introspective and cathartic.' It hits theaters this Friday. More from The Weeknd's 'Hurry Up Tomorrow' Film Trailer Hints At A Mind-Bending Experience The Weeknd Earns Fifth No. 1 Album With 'Hurry Up Tomorrow' Debut The Weeknd Releases Star-Studded 'Hurry Up Tomorrow' Movie Trailer
Yahoo
06-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Weeknd Embraces Full-Fledged Pop Star Status During 2-Night Chicago Stand
The Weeknd's sixth and most recent album, Hurry Up Tomorrow, was released in January and was accompanied months later by a film of the same name. In the mystifying thriller, the star—born Abel Tesfaye—portrays a thinly-veiled version of himself attempting to rectify an onstage crash out that resulted in not just embarrassment but also losing his voice. This real-life moment from 2022, which the singer ultimately attributed to self-imposed pressure and stress, clearly haunted the 'Blinding Lights' singer. However, this didn't deter The Weeknd from introducing the latest iteration of the After Hours Til Dawn Tour at Chicago's Soldier Field for two consecutive nights on May 30 and 31. Multi-instrumentalist and frequent Weeknd collaborator Mike Dean was the first opener for both evenings, followed by Atlanta-born rapper Playboi Carti. For the May 31 show, the emcee brought his signature high energy for songs like Future's 'Type Shit' and 'LIKE WEEZY.' However, when Carti introduced the one and only Travis Scott as his special guest, the crowd livened up even more for rousing renditions of 'goosebumps,' 'CRUSH' and 'FE!N.' It wasn't long before The Weeknd took the stage amidst a backdrop of a ruinous cityscape and gold robot statue designed by Japanese artist Hajime Sorayama. His dancers, clad in red hooded robes, appeared immediately for his very first song of the night, 'The Abyss' from Hurry Up Tomorrow. The vocalist stunned in a black hooded robe and a shiny chrome mask with illuminated eyes, which he would soon reveal to the delight of the audience. The Weeknd would go on to captivate by playing nearly 40 songs. 'Starboy' felt like a fever dream while 'Heartless' was riddled with jagged guitar riffs that gave it a treacherous edge. 'Can't Feel My Face,' one of the songs that catapulted the Toronto native into superstardom, was purely electrifying, and 'Often' sounded just as sumptuous as it did on 2015's Beauty Behind The Madness. The fiery nature of 'The Hills' was one of the most captivating instances from his set. Even though his cover of Metro Boomin's 'Creepin'' felt brief, the hits that followed were colossal. During 'Out Of Time,' he ventured his way into the crowd to sing along with fans–and was tightly hugged by one who was mesmerized by his presence. 'I Feel It Coming' and 'Die For You' were major sing-along moments, but when The Weeknd dipped into old-school classics onlookers were reminded of the depth of his catalog. More specifically, tracks from his 2011 debut mixtape House of Balloons were delivered with the urgency and conviction of that same mysterious musician with a penchant for lyrical tawdriness. 'Wicked Games,' 'The Morning,' 'High For This,' and 'House of Balloons' sounded less glacial and more heartfelt at this point in his career. The Weeknd didn't perform any songs with Playboi Carti on night two at Soldier Field, and he wasn't much for words throughout the performance. However, he did repeatedly thank Chicago for supporting him over the last 15 years. If there was any fear of coming up short onstage, the singer didn't show it. Instead, he did what he does best: let his transcendental vocals move the people who have believed in him the most. More from The Weeknd's 'Hurry Up Tomorrow' Earns $3.3 Million Box Office Debut The Weeknd Might Not Be Retiring His Music Persona After All The Weeknd's 'Hurry Up Tomorrow' Film Trailer Hints At A Mind-Bending Experience
Hypebeast
01-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Hypebeast
The Weeknd and Nespresso Brew Up a Creative Collaboration
Summary Nespressohas teamed up withThe Weeknd's artisanal coffee brand,Samra Origins, to launch a new collection celebrating culture, creativity and daily rituals. Named after his mother, Samra Origins reflects The Weeknd's Ethiopian heritage and family traditions surrounding coffee. The collaboration kicks off with the Nespresso I Samra Origins Togetherness Blend, a rich, bold roast designed to bring people together over a shared love of coffee. Available now in the U.S. and Canada, the collection includes the limited-edition Togetherness Blend, a travel mug and a tumbler, all inspired by The Weeknd's offstage rituals and creative process. The partnership extends beyond product, with Nespresso also serving as the headline sponsor for The Weeknd's world tour, offering fans exclusive experiences. 'Coffee runs deep in my family culture — it's about gathering, sharing, reflecting,' said The Weeknd. Nespresso CEO Philipp Navratil added, 'Just as music blends genres, our coffee brings people together.' More product drops are expected later this year as the partnership evolves.
