The Weeknd has abandoned, at least for now, plans to retire the stage name and persona he had been considering phasing out since early 2025.
by Paul Cashmere
The Weeknd has reversed course on plans to retire his stage name, telling fans during a concert in Stockholm, Sweden, that he had effectively tested life without the persona and did not like the result. The Canadian singer-songwriter, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, made the comments during his After Hours Til Dawn Tour on August 8, indicating that The Weeknd will remain part of his musical identity for the foreseeable future.
Tesfaye told the Stockholm audience, “I’ll never disappear. I love this too much to ever disappear. I tested retirement a little bit, and I don’t like the way it feels. Imma be here forever with you.”
The statement marks a significant change from Tesfaye’s comments over the past 18 months, during which he repeatedly discussed bringing the character known as The Weeknd to an end.
The possibility of retirement first became prominent in January 2025, when Tesfaye explained that he had begun questioning whether he still wanted to operate under a stage persona. He described The Weeknd as something that had become closely associated with the competitive pressures of contemporary pop music.
“It becomes this rat race: more accolades, more success, more shows, more albums, more awards and more number ones,” he said at the time.
Tesfaye was clear that retiring The Weeknd would not mean abandoning music. Instead, he suggested that the creative identity had reached a point where continuing in exactly the same form was becoming difficult to justify.
“I don’t think I can stop doing that,” he said of making music. “But everything needs to feel like a challenge.”
That distinction has remained important throughout the discussion. Tesfaye has not presented the idea as a conventional retirement from recording or performing. His comments have instead centred on whether The Weeknd, as a character and artistic framework, had reached its natural conclusion.
In May 2025, he said he was still “brainstorming” how the process might work, while acknowledging that his touring commitments made an immediate retirement impractical. He subsequently indicated that the transition was underway but that he could not completely step away while performing for audiences.
The timing of the original discussion was significant. Tesfaye had released his sixth studio album, Hurry Up Tomorrow, in 2025, presenting it as part of a broader creative chapter. His earlier comments suggested that the album could represent a logical point at which to reassess the identity he had built since emerging as The Weeknd.
The stage name has been central to Tesfaye’s career since his early recordings and the mixtapes that established his distinctive combination of alternative R&B, pop and electronic influences. It subsequently became the identity under which he developed into one of the most commercially successful recording artists of his generation.
The character also became increasingly intertwined with his visual presentation and thematic approach. Projects including House Of Balloons, Beauty Behind The Madness, Starboy, After Hours and Dawn FM each expanded the mythology surrounding The Weeknd while allowing Tesfaye to explore different musical and conceptual territory.
His Stockholm comments now suggest that the separation between Abel Tesfaye and The Weeknd may not be as imminent as previously contemplated.
There is also a practical dimension to the decision. Tesfaye remains in the middle of the After Hours Til Dawn Tour, the large-scale concert production built around his recent catalogue. Following the Stockholm dates, the tour continues to London, Dublin and further international markets before concluding in Malaysia in November.
The decision does not necessarily rule out future changes to the name or persona. Tesfaye has previously described the process as something he was still working through rather than a fixed plan with a predetermined timetable.
For now, however, his message to the Stockholm audience was unequivocal. After considering what life might look like without The Weeknd, he has decided that retirement does not feel right.
“I’ll never disappear,” he told the crowd.
Tour Dates
August 14, London, Wembley Stadium
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