Overview
- This week, in a GQ Hong Kong cover interview, Abel Tesfaye said he will not retire the Weeknd persona and that “The Weeknd isn’t going anywhere.”
- Tesfaye told the magazine that overwhelming gratitude from his year-long After Hours Til Dawn tour changed his mind about leaving the stage name and convinced him to keep making music under that identity.
- His reversal follows a longer arc of doubt that began after he lost his voice during a 2022 Los Angeles show and publicly questioned the persona in 2025, a period he has described as a mental-health reassessment.
- Recent stadium dates in Europe, including a five-night run at Wembley, included a ticket-donation scheme that raised more than $350,000 for causes such as the UN World Food Programme and Global Citizen.
- Tesfaye framed his pause as a temporary “hibernation” and said he plans new creative chapters under the Weeknd name, which could mean stylistic shifts rather than a full exit from public life.