Good news for fans: The Weeknd is not going anywhere. In a new interview with GQ Hong Kong, Abel Tesfaye said he has abandoned plans to retire the name and the persona, and that he intends to keep making music for as long as he can.
“I had a glimpse of what retirement looks like, and it isn’t for me,” he said. “It’s a real privilege to do what I do. There’s nothing else like this job. The gratitude I’ve felt over the last year has been overwhelming. I’m going to keep doing this for as long as I possibly can. The Weeknd isn’t going anywhere.”
A clear change of heart
The statement walks back earlier hints that the singer was preparing to close the chapter on his alias. He had previously suggested the name might be set aside, framing it as a storytelling device rather than an identity: “The Weeknd was never a mask I wore to hide from myself, Abel was always there. It was simply a lens I chose to tell certain stories through.” That lens now looks officially open-ended.
The timing is notable. The interview arrives as his massive After Hours ’til Dawn Tour prepares to conclude in November 2026, with a Hong Kong stop scheduled for October. Rather than winding down, Tesfaye describes growing inspiration and gratitude, five years into what GQ calls one of modern pop’s most prolific and creative runs.
Over that stretch he has balanced concept albums with television and film projects while headlining stadiums worldwide. Few artists keep a persona this big alive for over a decade, and fewer still reverse a planned exit this explicitly. Retirement teases are common in pop, but walking them back this clearly is not.
Whether the next album arrives with a new sound or the same dark synth-pop that made him famous, the name on the marquee will stay the same.
Sources
Featured image: PinkBeachPlanet, festival crowd and stage lights, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.