What Happened to The Weeknd?
The Mystery: 2009-2012
Abel Makkonen Tesfaye - born February 16, 1990, in Toronto, Canada, to Ethiopian immigrants - began releasing music anonymously in 2009. The three mixtapes - House of Balloons, Thursday and Echoes of Silence (all 2011) - were free downloads credited only to "The Weeknd": dark, drugged-out alternative R&B with a falsetto that recalled Michael Jackson through a haze of melancholy.
After co-founding the XO label, he compiled the mixtapes as Trilogy (2012) via Republic Records, then released his debut studio album Kiss Land (2013). The mystery was the marketing: no face, no interviews, just the music - and it worked, building a cult that mainstream pop couldn't ignore.
The Superstar: 2015-2022
Beauty Behind the Madness (2015) made him a pop titan: "Can't Feel My Face" and "The Hills" both hit number one, and he won his first Grammys. Starboy (2016) - with the Daft Punk-produced title track - and My Dear Melancholy (2018) kept him dominant. Then came After Hours (2020) and "Blinding Lights" - the synth-drenched smash that became Billboard's all-time number-one Hot 100 song, spending 90 weeks on the chart.
His accolades piled up: 4 Grammys, 20 Billboard Music Awards, 22 Juno Awards. His 2021 Super Bowl halftime show - performed to an empty stadium during the pandemic, with the bandaged-face choreography - was iconic. Dawn FM (2022) completed a trilogy of albums, and his After Hours til Dawn stadium tour became one of the highest-grossing tours ever.
Then came The Idol (2023) - his HBO series with Sam Levinson, in which he starred as a cultish club owner. It was savaged by critics and canceled after one season, a rare misstep that seemed to prompt soul-searching.
The Farewell That Wasn't: Hurry Up Tomorrow (2025)
In 2023, Tesfaye began signaling the end: he ditched "The Weeknd" on social media, telling W Magazine he was "getting ready to close the Weeknd chapter." In 2025 he told the New York Times that Hurry Up Tomorrow - the album and its companion film starring himself, Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan - would "most likely be" his final act as The Weeknd, completing the trilogy begun with After Hours.
Hurry Up Tomorrow (January 2025) was conceived as a finale: the last chapter of the Weeknd persona, with Tesfaye suggesting future music might come under his own name, Abel Tesfaye. Fans braced for the end of an era - the retirement of one of pop's defining stage names.
The Reversal: September 2026
Then, in September 2026, Tesfaye reversed course. In interviews with GQ Hong Kong and GQ Singapore, he said retiring the name now felt like "a waste of inspiration." "The Weeknd was never a mask I wore to hide from myself," he explained. "It was simply a lens I chose to tell certain stories through."
"I can't even put into words the amount of inspiration I've felt over the last year," he said. "At one point I thought, 'What if I just stopped?' But then I realized what a waste all of that inspiration would be... I had a glimpse of what retirement looks like, and it isn't for me."
The kicker: "I'm going to keep doing this for as long as I possibly can. The Weeknd isn't going anywhere." The farewell was canceled; the persona lives on - possibly alongside future work as Abel Tesfaye, which he framed as "just another evolution," not a replacement.
Where He Is Now in 2026
In 2026, Abel Tesfaye, 36, is in a creative second wind - the retirement tease behind him, inspiration overflowing, and the Weeknd name secure. His touring, his XO empire and his film ambitions (the Hurry Up Tomorrow film was his acting showcase) continue.
What happened to The Weeknd? He almost retired himself - then realized he didn't want to. The name that began as an anonymous 2009 mystery survives its own planned funeral, with its creator newly energized. The Weeknd isn't going anywhere - his own words, September 2026.
Legacy: Pop's Dark Prince
Tesfaye's legacy is secure: the artist who brought alternative R&B to the mainstream, who made darkness commercial, whose falsetto defined a decade. "Blinding Lights" alone - Billboard's greatest Hot 100 song ever - guarantees immortality.
The retirement-that-wasn't adds a final twist: even The Weeknd couldn't quit The Weeknd. At 36, with inspiration he "can't contain," Abel Tesfaye's next chapter - under whatever name - is one of pop's most anticipated.
The Super Bowl and the Touring Machine
Tesfaye's 2021 Super Bowl halftime show - performed in a pandemic-empty stadium, with his bandaged-dancer army - was a triumph of spectacle under constraint, watched by nearly 100 million. It cemented his live reputation: the After Hours til Dawn stadium tour (2022-2023) became one of the highest-grossing tours in history, with its post-apocalyptic stage design and career-spanning setlist.
His touring numbers rival the biggest acts on earth - a remarkable ascent for an artist who began as an anonymous mixtape mystery. The Weeknd live is now a stadium ritual: the red suit, the city skyline, the falsetto echoing off 70,000 voices.
XO Records and the Business Empire
Co-founded with his managers, XO Records grew from a mixtape imprint into a full label and lifestyle brand - signing artists, selling merchandise, and anchoring Tesfaye's independence. His partnership with Republic Records gave him major-label muscle with indie control.
Beyond music: film production (the Hurry Up Tomorrow film), fashion collaborations, and his HBO venture - even the failed Idol showed ambition beyond albums. Tesfaye thinks like a mogul: the Weeknd as universe, not just discography.
In 2026, with the name secured and inspiration flowing, the empire's next phase - whatever Abel Tesfaye dreams next - is pop's most intriguing open question.
The Idol Misstep and What It Taught
The Idol (2023) - Tesfaye's HBO series with Euphoria's Sam Levinson, co-starring Lily-Rose Depp - was intended as his prestige-TV coronation. Instead it became a cautionary tale: savaged for its lurid emptiness, canceled after one season, and widely mocked.
To his credit, Tesfaye absorbed the failure without defensiveness, and it seemingly prompted the soul-searching that led to the Hurry Up Tomorrow finale concept - and then the 2026 reversal. The misstep humanized him: even pop's dark prince can flop.
The lesson stuck: stick to the music, or at least to stories worthy of the songs. The Weeknd survived The Idol; Abel Tesfaye learned from it.
The Trilogy Concept: After Hours to Tomorrow
After Hours (2020), Dawn FM (2022) and Hurry Up Tomorrow (2025) form a deliberate trilogy: a descent into darkness, a purgatorial radio station, and a finale. Tesfaye conceived them as one arc - the Weeknd persona's complete journey from hedonism to reckoning.
The concept gave his 2020s work unusual coherence for pop: recurring characters, sonic callbacks, a narrative fans decoded across albums. The Hurry Up Tomorrow film - starring Tesfaye, Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan - was meant as the trilogy's cinematic coda.
That the "finale" became a new beginning is the trilogy's perfect twist: the Weeknd's story, it turns out, doesn't end. It evolves.
The Ethiopian Heritage
Tesfaye's Ethiopian roots run deep: born in Toronto to Ethiopian immigrants Makkonen Tesfaye and Samra Tesfaye, he was raised on Ethiopian music and culture - the pentatonic scales and church harmonies that subtly infuse his melodies. His Amharic-language asides and Ethiopian references honor the heritage.
He's given back substantially: million-dollar donations to Ethiopian famine relief, support for Ethiopian hospitals, and advocacy during the Tigray crisis. In 2021, he donated $1 million to Ethiopian famine relief efforts through the UN World Food Programme - for which he serves as a Goodwill Ambassador.
The heritage grounds the persona: beneath the Weeknd's noir mythology is Abel Tesfaye, the Ethiopian-Canadian kid from Scarborough, whose success carries his community's pride.
The Blinding Lights Record
"Blinding Lights" (2019) became the biggest Billboard Hot 100 hit of all time - 90 weeks on the chart, the most ever, and Billboard's #1 Greatest of All Time Hot 100 single. Its synthwave pulse defined the pandemic era's sound.
The song's ubiquity was total: TikTok dances, Super Bowl syncs, a billion Spotify streams in record time. It turned Tesfaye from R&B star into pop immortal - the rare artist with a legitimate claim to the biggest song ever.
The record anchors his legacy: whatever the Weeknd becomes, "Blinding Lights" is eternal - the 2020s' defining single, and statistical proof of his pop supremacy.
Frequently asked questions
What happened to The Weeknd?
He spent 2023-2025 teasing retirement of his stage name, saying Hurry Up Tomorrow (2025) would be his final act as The Weeknd. In September 2026 he reversed course, telling GQ: The Weeknd isn't going anywhere.
Is The Weeknd retiring?
No. Despite years of teasing, Abel Tesfaye confirmed in September 2026 that he will keep the Weeknd name, calling retirement a waste of inspiration.
What is Hurry Up Tomorrow?
The Weeknd's 2025 album and companion film (starring Tesfaye, Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan), conceived as the finale of his After Hours/Dawn FM trilogy.
What is The Weeknd's real name?
Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, born February 16, 1990, in Toronto, Canada.
What was The Weeknd's biggest song?
Blinding Lights (2020) - Billboard's all-time number-one Hot 100 song, with 90 weeks on the chart.
What happened with The Idol?
His 2023 HBO series with Sam Levinson was savaged by critics and canceled after one season - a rare misstep in his career.
How old is The Weeknd?
36. He was born February 16, 1990.
Sources
- The Weeknd - WikipediaWikipedia
- iHeart - Tesfaye retirement reversaliHeartRadio
- Billboard - The WeekndBillboard