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Toronto Sun
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Toronto Sun
The Weeknd saves best for last in final Toronto concert: 'It's been a beautiful 15 years'
'If it wasn't for Toronto, I wouldn't be a star,' Scarborough-born R&B artist told sold-out crowd at Rogers Centre Get the latest from Mark Daniell straight to your inbox The Weeknd performs during his After Hours Til Dawn tour. Photo by Arlen Redekop / PNG The Weeknd grew up watching the Toronto Blue Jays play at the Skydome. So it was only fitting that he would refer to Rogers Centre by its old name multiple times as he closed out the last of four sold-out shows in his hometown Friday night. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The Scarborough-born R&B superstar, born Abel Tesfaye, played his last-ever show in Toronto before he retires his Weeknd moniker with a two-plus hour concert that covered a 15-year hit streak that began in earnest after a trio of mixtapes — House of Balloons , Thursday and Echoes of Silence — helped catapult him to music stardom in 2011. Unlike other stops on his now three-year-old After Hours Til Dawn tour, Tesfaye was back in the city that shaped his signature sound, and he never stopped acknowledging how important Toronto was in his musical evolution. His face beaming with pride, Tesfaye repeatedly paid tribute to his hometown, marvelling at the fact that he had sold-out the stadium he visited as a boy for a record-setting sixth time (the most for any Canadian musician). Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'If it wasn't for Toronto, I wouldn't be a star,' he said. 'It's been a beautiful 15 years.' Tesfaye also warned the residents living in the condo towers that surround Rogers Centre, sorry Skydome, that they too were in for a long night. 'They're not sleeping tonight,' he quipped early on. 'I want them to hear us all the way from Scarborough; all the way from Mississauga. I want them to hear the Skydome tonight,' he told the nearly 50,000 screaming fans inside the venue. With the roof open, the brightly lit CN Tower added to the visual brilliance of his set, which exuded an Eyes Wide Shut- meets- Metropolis vibe. C rimson-robed masked dancers cavorted across an expansive stage that featured imagery of a city landscape marred by ruined skyscrapers, a gold-ringed cross-shaped catwalk and a towering robot sculpture designed by Japanese artist Hajime Sorayama. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'Look at how beautiful the CN Tower looks,' remarked Tesfaye, who was presented with a key to the city last month. The Weeknd performs during his After Hours Til Dawn tour. Photo by Arlen Redekop / PNG After starting the show with The Abyss , a brooding collaboration he sings with Lana Del Rey on his latest album Hurry Up Tomorrow , Tesfaye, who initially took to the stage in a silver mask that was adorned with a pair of glowing eyes, reminded people in the audience that he's unmatched when he comes to penning infectious hits. He's the top musical artist to have the most songs to reach 1 billion streams on Spotify, and the building literally shook when he played hits like Blinding Lights , Save Your Tears and Take My Breath . T hen there was his synth-pop Daft Punk collabs — Starboy (which the crowd gleefully helped provide backing vocals for as they belted out the line, 'I'm a motherf—in' starboy') and I Feel It Coming — that he sprinkled alongside his silky falsettos on songs like Call Out My Name , House of Balloons and Wicked Games . This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. During the Dawn FM track Out of Time , Tesfaye journeyed from the B-stage into the crowd where he invited an overzealous fan to try and help him sing along. How did she do? It didn't matter he was all smiles as he gave her a hug. Elsewhere, on songs like After Hours , he worked the audience like a conductor letting them take over the singing completely. Japanese artist Hajime Sorayama's robot sculpture is a centrepiece of The Weeknd's After Hours Til Dawn tour. Photo by Allen McInnis / Montreal Gazette He changed the lyrics to some of his other tracks as an excuse to namedrop Toronto. 'Every time I try to leave you Toronto/you won't let me leave,' he sang on Given Up on Me . Fireworks and pyrotechnics added to the excessive pomp as they bathed the stadium in bursts of flame during the night's bouncy closing number Moth to a Flame . All throughout, Tesfaye was a perfect showman, blowing kisses and playing to all areas of the stadium (there truly wasn't a bad seat) as he traversed the platforms that extended to the furthest parts of the floor. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The Weeknd performs during his After Hours Til Dawn tour. Photo by Greg Southam / Postmedia He wanted his fans to have 'the best motherf—in' night of their lives' and the deafening cheers were proof that for many people inside, it was an evening they won't soon forget. After releasing his sixth studio album Hurry Up Tomorrow earlier this year, the 35-year-old hitmaker said he planned to retire his stage name following the conclusion of his ongoing album trilogy that began with 2020's After Hours and continued with 2022's Dawn FM . ' 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,' the 22-time Juno winner told Variety back in January. Read More This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. His comments echoed past statements he had made about closing The Weeknd chapter of his career. 'I'm going through a cathartic path right now,' Tesfaye told W Magazine in 2023. 'It's getting to a place and a time where I'm getting ready to close the Weeknd chapter. I'll still make music, maybe as Abel, maybe as The Weeknd. But I still want to kill The Weeknd. And I will. Eventually. I'm definitely trying to shed that skin and be reborn.' So, if Friday was about ending this era of his musical career, Tesfaye paid tribute to his many sides. All of the different Tesfayes that got him to a place where he could play in front of nearly 50,000 of his fellow Torontonians were on display and properly served. What comes next is anyone's guess – Tesfaye has dabbled in acting, fashion and comic books. If the past 15 years are any indication, Tesfaye's next incarnation will continue to push boundaries in ways that uniquely speak to who he is — and was — as an artist. And we can't wait to watch it all unfold. mdaniell@ Love concerts, but can't make it to the venue? Stream live shows and events from your couch with VEEPS, a music-first streaming service now operating in Canada. Click here for an introductory offer of 30% off. Explore upcoming concerts and the extensive archive of past performances. Columnists Toronto & GTA Toronto Blue Jays World Editorials
Global News
28-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Global News
Toronto mayor proclaims ‘The Weeknd weekend,' gives performer key to the city
As The Weeknd wraps up his two-day concert in Toronto, he has received more than just a heartfelt goodbye from his hometown. Toronto-born global music icon Abel 'The Weeknd' Tesfaye received the key to the city on Sunday from Mayor Olivia Chow in a ceremony recognizing the artist's extraordinary contributions to music, philanthropy and culture in the city. The honour was given following his four sold-out shows at the Rogers Centre. In a proclamation posted to social media, Chow proclaimed July 26-27, 2025, as 'The Weeknd Weekend' in Toronto, celebrating Tesfaye's rise from Scarborough to worldwide fame. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy 'I am proud to honour one of our city's greatest artists with a Key to the City to celebrate his contributions to music, society and our culture,' Chow wrote. The Weeknd called the recognition deeply meaningful. Story continues below advertisement 'It feels good to be home. Toronto is where I found my voice, and I'm committed to helping the next generation find theirs,' he said in the statement. Raised in southwest Scarborough, Tesfaye began uploading music anonymously in 2010. His 2011 mixtape House of Balloons helped define a new era of alternative R&B. Over the next decade, he became one of the most-streamed artists in the world. In 2021, he became the first Canadian solo artist to headline the Super Bowl halftime show. Globally, Tesfaye has donated more than $10 million to humanitarian efforts, including education programs and food aid. He serves as a UN World Food Programme Goodwill Ambassador and was awarded the Quincy Jones Humanitarian Award in 2021. The key to the city is Toronto's highest honour, reserved for individuals whose contributions have made a profound impact locally and beyond. In receiving it, The Weeknd joins a select group of notable recipients in the city.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Weeknd Insists 'Cinema' Is His True Passion Despite His Panned Performance In The Idol
The Weeknd has revealed his true life's passion... and surprisingly, it's not music. The 'Starboy' musician admitted that his rise to superstardom in the music industry was really just 'a little detour' he used to pursue his number one passion. The Weeknd, real name Abel Tesfaye, sat alongside his 'Hurry Up Tomorrow' co-star Jenna Ortega and director Trey Edward Shults where he discussed how his decorated music career has led him to starring in his upcoming musical film, 'Hurry up Tomorrow.' The movie — based on his sixth and final studio album under The Weeknd stage name — serves as a soundtrack to the highly anticipated film. Described as a 'suspense thriller,' the film follows an international pop star 'plagued by insomnia' and 'pulled into an odyssey with a stranger who begins to unravel the very core of his existence. They story is loosely inspired by Tesfaye's own career. He confessed how, 'Cinema has always, for me, it's always kind of been my number one passion. I happen to sing and make music and it kind of felt like a little detour, a little cheat code to kind of get into this. I always wanted to make movies and I always wanted to make music with movies.' He added: 'During that journey, you always kind of hear and see the DNA of cinema in my albums and my music videos, and my performances on my stage. It's always just been a part of me.' The star's breakout acting role came in 2023 on HBO's 'The Idol,' which received mixed reviews and criticism for both the plot and his acting chops. That said, the pop mega star admitted that 'The Idol' didn't quite feel like it was his, whereas 'Hurry Up Tomorrow' brought the joy back into filmmaking. 'I'm like, 'Yeah! I do want to do this…this is great,' ' the star said with a relieved laugh. Tesfaye's decision to retire his stage name came during a time his voice began to fail him, describing the film as a 'guiding light' to push him forward to the next step in his career. 'It felt like I had nothing else to say,' the 35-year-old revealed. 'I was on stage and it's like, I've said everything I can say as this person. Now it's time for me to take that next step.' While Tesfaye's breakout role may have left fans less than inspired, many are gearing up to see what's next for him in this 'intentionally mysterious' mind bending thriller, co-written by the music artist. Since kicking off his career with acclaimed mixtape 'House of Balloons,' Tesfaye has reportedly taken home a total of 176 awards out of 513 nominations including Grammy, Billboard, American Music, and MTV Awards. 'Hurry Up Tomorrow' is set to release in theaters May 16. This story originally appeared on The Root, our sister site, on Thursday, May 8. For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
