Latest news with #TheWeeknd
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ariana Grande Isn't Going to ‘Abandon' Music, She's Actually ‘Working on a Plan to Sing for You'
Ariana Grande isn't forfeiting her position in the upper echelons of the pop pantheon, no matter how many people believe that she no longer has an interest in being there. 'Very silly of you all to assume that just because i have my hands full with many things that i plan to abandon singing & music,' the singer wrote on Instagram, sharing a video from her private performance at the 2024 Met Gala. 'It is and has always been my lifeline. there will need to be room made for all of it.' Grande spent the first few months of 2024 in pop star mode, promoting her seventh studio album, Eternal Sunshine. For the second half, she shifted her focus towards Wicked, the film adaptation of the Broadway musical in which she landed her dream role as Glinda. Earlier this year, she shared Eternal Sunshine: Brighter Days Ahead, the extended edition of the record that arrived alongside a short-film in which she played the lead role. Later this year, she'll switch back into Glinda mode for the release of Wicked: For Good. More from Rolling Stone Ariana Grande, Josh Gad Lead 'Oh, the Places You'll Go!' Cast 'Wicked' TV Special Featuring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo Sets Air Date Frankie Grande Teases First-Ever Collaboration With Sister Ariana Grande Grande has found a rhythm between her projects, but there seems to be a fair amount of recency bias clouding the perception of her latest music endeavors since she hasn't taken Eternal Sunshine or Positions on the road. Grande does have plans to return to the stage, she says, but it will have to be on her own terms. 'It may not look exactly like it did before but I much prefer how it looks in my head. I am having fun. I feel grateful and excited and inspired,' she wrote, 'finding a balance, between many projects and endeavors I love, and doing it my own way… so I'm working on a plan to sing for you all next year. Even if it's just for a little. I love you.' In a statement to Rolling Stone, representatives for Grande shared: 'Ariana has never felt more artistically free and inspired in her career. She's enjoying finding the balance in everything and even with all of her upcoming acting projects which we are very excited about, she will always return home to music.' Last year, Grande told the Zach Sang Show that she was 'really excited to redefine my relationship to shows when I'm ready.' She noted that a period of healing was necessary after having 'a really hard time emotionally on my last tour,' which simultaneously promoted Sweetener and Thank U, Next, two of the most defining releases of her career. While the musician hasn't toured since the Sweetener World Tour wrapped in December 2019, her list of live performances has grown significantly in the years since. She appeared alongside Lady Gaga at the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards, joined The Weeknd at the 2021 iHeart Radio Music Awards, and performed Eternal Sunshine's 'We Can't Be Friends (Wait for Your Love)' and 'Imperfect For You' on Saturday Night Live in March 2024. Best of Rolling Stone Sly and the Family Stone: 20 Essential Songs The 50 Greatest Eminem Songs All 274 of Taylor Swift's Songs, Ranked Solve the daily Crossword


CTV News
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Playboi Carti won't open for The Weeknd at Commonwealth Stadium due to ‘border crossing issues': Live Nation
Playboi Carti performs at the Wireless Music Festival, Finsbury Park on Friday, July 7, 2023 in London. (Scott Garfitt/Invision/AP) Playboi Carti will no longer open for The Weeknd in Edmonton on Saturday. The rapper couldn't get into Canada, according to Live Nation, and will miss The Weeknd's After Hours til Dawn tour shows in Edmonton and Vancouver. 'We apologize for any inconvenience,' Live Nation said on Instagram. Mike Dean is opening the concert at 7 p.m.


The Province
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Province
Concert Review: The Weeknd brings After Hours Til Dawn tour to B.C. Place
Toronto-born Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, has teased that this could be the final tour as his namesake alter ego The Weeknd performs at BC Place in Vancouver, July 15, 2025. (Arlen Redekop / Postmedi Photo by Arlen Redekop / PNG Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. 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. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. 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 The Weeknd is by far the most interesting Canadian global pop star of the past decade. The singer, born Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, is also confusing. The first of two back-to-back B.C. Place dates on the After Hours Til Dawn tour made this crystal clear. It's unlikely that tonight's gig will change anything. In a marathon 40-tune show, the 35-year-old brought nothing less than an A-game to the arena-spanning set. From its veritable B.C. forest of flames, criss-crossing lasers, giant golden showpiece statue similar to the one seen in Fritz Lang's dystopian science fiction classic Metropolis, the design was all drama and flash. Add in masked, head scarf-wearing red-dressed dancers who mostly struck random poses and a kind of freaky mask with glowing eye orbs for the first few songs and it was a really big show designed to entrance. Essential reading for hockey fans who eat, sleep, Canucks, repeat. 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. The nearly sold out stadium certainly let the singer know that they approved. This crowd was loud. But concerts are about music too and The Weeknd has always run into a bit of a problem with the whole 'filler versus killer' balance in his shows. For every perfect single such as Can't Feel My Face or Wake Me Up, there are also the tedious exercises in post-feminist manosphere romance poetry like Heartless or Timeless. While these plodding tracks did seem to have their fans, no amount of shots of The Weeknd's new Nespresso Samra Origins collaboration brew could stifle the yawns these songs generated. It felt like he was well aware of the moments when the material might need massaging to keep folks engaged and insisted on reminding everyone that the tour was in Vancouver at every imaginable opportunity. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. There may never have been another performer to grace B.C. Place that inserted the name of the city the concert was taking place in so many times. It wasn't necessary at all, even if it did keep the fans roaring approval. Their deafening choruses of boo following his mention of all the American cities the tour had recently been through said a great deal more about where people's minds are at these days. In other words, The Weeknd didn't need to be working so hard on selling his brand. People love the guy and yet here he was coming off like some well-worn Vegas strip hawker. It's somewhat possible that opener Playboi Carti not being able to make the show due to apparent border issues threw something of a wrench into the works. Carti has been joining The Weeknd during his performance on most of the tour which doubtlessly gives him a bit of a rest from carrying the entire load on his own. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. All he needed to do was keep dropping slamming funk-offs like Starboy and Faith into the set with those potent, spot-on vocals and flamepot flashes. His keyboard dropped an 80s-certified synth solo into the latter tune that took it completely next level. A few more moments like that wouldn't have hurt the flow one bit, as it gave the dancers a chance to flex and for The Weeknd to get up close to fans on one of the side runways. As noted, when the dude is hitting it right, he's awesome. The post-apocalyptic backdrop of a collapsed and destroyed cityscape and visuals of the artist trying to punch through a red wall suggested that there is a reincarnation coming from the musician and Tesfaye has repeatedly hinted that he might retire The Weeknd character after this tour finishes. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. If that is indeed the case, it will be interesting to see what Monday brings. Hopefully, he will find inspiration to craft more of the timeless ear worms he has locked into our heads forever and to dial back the repetitive sounding meandering midtempo duds. 5 Highlights in the After Hours Til Dawn set list When The Weeknd is on, he is like a force of pop perfection that nothing can stop. In his After Hours Til Dawn show, there are some spectacular examples of his pristine tune smithing. Here are the five highlights of the show. 1. Wake Me Up: From the poorly reviewed new album Hurry Up Tomorrow, this collab with French dance crew Justice proved itself as a live number. Its slow symphonic build up to a retro electrofunk vamp really got folks dancing in the bleachers. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 2. Take My Breath: A slamming upbeat boogie from Dawn FM that has an addictive falsetto chorus hook that would make Earth, Wind & Fire jealous. This may have been the booty-shaker of the night. 3. The Hills: One of the ballads that resonates with genuine testimonial pain that drips with genuine emotion. The crowd belted out the 'I only call you when it's half-past five' lyric like it came from personal experience. Plus, FIRE! 4. Less Than Zero: An upbeat, bouncy tune that does that sounds like it could have been written by Orchestral Manouvers in the Dark in the eighties. Pairs melancholy lyricism with pure pop hooks. 5. Blinding Lights: Well, duh. Arguably the best-known song by someone who has written his share of classics, this driving hit is an absolute banger in concert. It's a timeless toe-tapper that will likely keep sounding as fresh as it does today in another 10 years. sderdeyn@ Read More 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. Crime News News Vancouver Canucks News


The Guardian
17 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Peloton, pineapples and a lake monster: photos of the day
Smoke rises over charred woodland as firefighters continue to fight a forest fire that spread from agricultural land Photograph: Fatih Capkin/Anadolu/Getty Images Alexandra Mejia Gallego of Andorra grabs a drink, during the women's 10km open water swim at the world swimming championships Photograph: Vincent Thian/AP A sculpture named the Van Lake monster, weighing 600kgs and made from iron collected from scrap dealers, is lowered onto the lake shore Photograph: Ozkan Bilgin/Anadolu/Getty Images Bolivian dancers take part in the Virgin of Carmen parade Photograph: Diego Rosales/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock Members of the Korean confederation of trade unions (KCTU) stage a rally near the National Assembly, demanding that the government adopt a pro-labour act Photograph: YONHAP/EPA The Weeknd performs during his After Hours Til Dawn tour at BC Place Photograph: Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press/AP Farmers ride in convoy as they head to a market carrying up to 100 pineapples each on their bikes Photograph: Joy Saha/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock The peloton cycles past the Place du Capitole during the 11th stage of the 112th edition of the Tour de France Photograph: Loïc Venance/AFP/Getty Images Activists put up an installation in the shape of a heart and lungs damaged by exposure to microplastics waste, during a protest to raise awareness of the impact of single-use plastic Photograph: Juni Kriswanto/AFP/Getty Images Lava emerges through a fissure after a volcanic eruption Photograph: Hordur Kristleifsson/Civil Protection Of Iceland/Reuters The partner of Israeli army sergeant Shoham Menachem, killed in action the previous day in the Gaza Strip, mourns during his funeral at the Yardena military cemetery Photograph: Gil Cohen-Magen/AFP/Getty Images An injured Palestinian baby is brought to Al-Shifa hospital for treatment following the Israeli attacks on Al-Shati refugee camp Photograph: Omar Ashtawy/APAImages/Shutterstock A Palestinian receives medical attention at Nasser hospital after an Israeli attack near an aid supply distribution point Photograph: Hatem Khaled/Reuters Palestinians mourn for relatives who were killed in Israeli airstrike near an aid supply distribution point Photograph: Abed Rahim Khatib/Anadolu/Getty Images The aftermath of a drone attack targeted at a building of the FED company, which specialises in the research, development and maintenance of aircraft and helicopters Photograph: Patrick Muzart/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock Residents gather outside their houses that have been submerged by floodwaters after heavy monsoon rains Photograph: Husnain Ali/AFP/Getty Images


USA Today
18 hours ago
- Entertainment
- USA Today
SeaWorld's viral hip-hop and R&B summer concert series makes splash with fans
SeaWorld is turning up for the summer! The theme park in San Diego, known for being an aquarium, zoo, and theme park all in one, has kicked off its "Summer Spectacular Concert Series," featuring nostalgic R&B and hip-hop acts on Saturday nights. So far, artists such as Baby Bash and Ying Yang Twins have taken the stage at SeaWorld's Bayside Amphitheater. Most recently, on July 12, Soulja Boy and Bow Wow performed their respective hits, including "Marco Polo," "Pretty Boy Swag," "Shortie Like Mine," and "Kiss Me Thru The Phone," as the crowd cheered and danced in the stands. Music concerts: There's still time to see The Weeknd in concert! Here's how to buy tickets How long is SeaWorld's 'Summer Spectacular Concert Series'? The concerts, presented by local radio station Jam'N 95.7, began on June 21 and will take place every Saturday through August 23. Every event at the Bayside Amphitheater starts at 6 p.m. SeaWorld performances have gone viral on social media The concert went viral online following the Ying Yang Twins' performance in June. The crowd was shaking "it like a salt shaker" to the duo's hits. A video of the pair performing has received over 200,000 views on TikTok. "Sea World & the Ying Yang Twins is a hilarious collab," one person wrote in a post on X. Another person chimed in on a separate post and said, "Whose idea was it to get the Ying Yang Twins to perform at Sea World..? I ain't even mad at it, I just wanna know." Although the concerts have reached viral status this year, this isn't SeaWorld San Diego's first time hosting performances like this. Bow Wow and Soulja Boy have put on a show at the theme park several times in recent years. "Draco, this is our third year straight doing this right?" Bow Wow asked Soulja Boy during their performance. What other artists are performing? How to get tickets Access to the concerts is included in park admission. However, there is an option to pay extra for reserved seating, which starts at $19.99. A VIP Experience is also available. Prices start at $54.99 for a premium concert seat, including one free drink ticket, according to the SeaWorld website. Taylor Ardrey is a news reporter for USA TODAY. You can reach her at tardrey@