The Weeknd Sets the Record Straight on Retirement Plans

Originally appeared on E! Online

Save your tears for another day—because The Weeknd isn’t going anywhere.

After the Grammy winner (born Abel Makkonen Tesfaye) hinted that he’d be retiring from music last year, he revealed that he’s since backtracked on his plans.

“I’ll never disappear. I love this too much to ever disappear,” The Weeknd said during his Aug. 8 concert in Stockholm, Sweden, as part of his After Hours Til Dawn Tour, according to fan footage shared to X. “I tested retirement a little bit, and I don’t like the way it feels. Imma be here forever with you.”

The “Starboy” hitmaker’s change of heart comes more than a year after he shocked fans by laying out his plans to retire his stage name, telling Variety in January 2025 that he was “closing this chapter” on his “existence as the Weeknd” following the release of the third installment of his After Hours music trilogy titled Hurry Up Tomorrow.

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“It’s a headspace I’ve gotta get into that I just don’t have any more desire for,” he shared of embodying his onstage persona. “I feel like it comes with so much. 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.”

But it wasn’t always his plan to throw in the towel following the conclusion of his three-part project. In fact, The Idol actor starting contemplating retirement after his voice gave out in front of 80,000 fans during a 2022 concert at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.

“Part of me actually was thinking, ‘You lost your voice because it’s done; you said what you had to say. Don’t overstay at the party—you can end it now and live a happy life,'” the 36-year-old recalled. “You know? Put the bow on it: Hurry Up Tomorrow? Now we’re here. When is the right time to leave, if not at your peak?”

The Weeknd added, “Once you understand who I am too much, then it’s time to pivot.”

But even then, he wasn’t suggesting a permanent goodbye to music.

“I don’t think I can stop doing that,” he explained. “But everything needs to feel like a challenge. And for me right now, the Weeknd, whatever that is, it’s been mastered.”

“No one’s gonna do the Weeknd better than me,” he added, “and I’m not gonna do it better than what it is right now. I think I’ve overcome every challenge as this persona.”

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