The Weeknd
The Weeknd is set to return to Australia in October 2024, bringing his After Hours Til Dawn stadium tour Down Under after initially postponing and then cancelling his 2023 dates.
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The Australian and New Zealand leg was originally planned as one of the final stretches of his world tour before those dates were shelved.
The Canadian R&B superstar, born Abel Tesfaye, will kick off the 2024 leg on Oct. 5 at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium, with a second show on Oct. 6, before heading to Sydney for back-to-back performances at Accor Stadium on Oct. 22 and 23.
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These will be The Weeknd’s first stadium shows in Australia and his first visit since 2017. Special guests Mike Dean and Chxrry22, along with Australian DJ and vocalist, Anna Lunoe, will join him on all 2024 Australian dates.
However, fans in Brisbane and New Zealand, who were included in the cancelled 2023 tour, will be disappointed to learn that these locations are not part of the 2024 itinerary.
According to a statement from the tour’s press release: “Due to schedule and logistical constraints, the ‘After Hours ‘Til Dawn’ tour will not be making its way to New Zealand or Brisbane in 2024 and there will be no further cities added.”
This decision has sparked backlash on social media, with fans expressing frustration over their shows being dropped from the 2024 run.
One commenter noted on Reddit, “Not sure what logistical circumstances they’re trying to blame for not coming to Brisbane or even NZ. Suncorp Stadium literally has no event booked in October other than the Travis Scott show at the end of the month.” Another added, “Apparently it’s more logical to fly to Australia, fly back to the USA, fly back to Australia and then fly back again.”
Before announcing the 2024 Australian dates, The Weeknd performed numerous sold-out shows across the United States as part of the After Hours Til Dawn tour.
The U.S. leg included notable performances at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles and MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, where he fans with a setlist featuring hits from After Hours and Dawn FM.
In a statement about the upcoming shows in Australia this October, The Weeknd said, “I feel a strong pull to perform in Australia before moving on to the next chapter and want to make sure you all know I hadn’t forgotten about you. When I return now, it will be the right time, and I promise it will be such a special experience. I can’t wait to see you all!”
For 2023 ticket holders, a special ‘Past Purchaser Presale‘ will be available, offering the first opportunity to secure tickets for the upcoming Australian tour dates.
The Weeknd’s After Hours Til Dawn tour has been a global success, with over 60 sold-out stadium dates and more than 3 million attendees across North America, Europe, the U.K., and Latin America. The tour has also broken attendance records, including a two-night run at London Stadium that drew 160,000 fans.
In other recent news, earlier this month it was revealed The Weeknd will return to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios Hollywood on Sept. 5 with The Weeknd: Nightmare Trilogy, an immersive haunted house experience featuring music by The Weeknd and Mike Dean.
It follows the success of his 2022 After Hours Nightmare attraction, inspired by his Billboard 200-topping album After Hours.
The Weeknd After Hours Til Dawn 2024 Australia Tour Dates:
Oct. 5 – Marvel Stadium, MelbourneOct. 6 – Marvel Stadium, MelbourneOct. 22 – Accor Stadium, SydneyOct. 23 – Accor Stadium, Sydney
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Drake is taking more shots than the height of the COVID-19 vaccine run after catching some bars from Kendrick Lamar earlier this month. On Future and Metro Boomin‘s latest project, WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU, The Weeknd and A$AP Rocky delivered additional jabs and uppercuts in the direction of Drake.
If it wasn’t clear before, Drake certainly appears to be in an all-out war with several heavy hitters in the industry. As mentioned above, K-Dot didn’t hold back on his feature verse on “Like That” from Future and Metro Boomin’s WE DON’T TRUST YOU album.
The Canadian superstar was targeted once again on the follow-up WE STILL DON’T TRUST YOU by his fellow countryman The Weeknd on the track “All To Myself” which doesn’t name Drizzy but certainly seems to be about him.
“These n*ggas always yappin’, yeah/ I promise that I got your back/ Ooh, look at how we movin’, baby/ They could never diss my brothers, baby/ When they got leaks in they operation/ I thank God that I never signed my life away/ And we never do the big talk/ They shooters makin’ TikToks/ Got us laughin’ in the Lambo.”
The lyrics seem to point to the fact The Weeknd never signed to Drake’s OVO Sound label despite being from the same city. The latter portion of the verse seems to be aimed at OVO Sound artist Baka Not Nice.
A$AP Rocky, who probably owed Drake a few more bars than he’s already given him, appears to get at the For All The Dogs star on the track, “Show Of Hands.”
“N*ggas swear they bitch the baddest, I just bagged the worst one/ N*ggas in they feelings over women, what, you hurt or somethin’?/ I smashed before you birthed son, Flacko hit it first, son,” Rocky said, appearing to suggest he slept with the mother of Drake’s child before he did.
Adding to all of this, J. Cole, who was swept in the Rap Royal Rumble but backed out during the Dreamville Festival, is featured on the track “Red Leather” which some fans are looking at sideways.
On X, formerly Twitter, the fans are breaking down the bars while connecting the dots. Check out the reactions below.
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Photo: Joseph Okpako / Getty
Universal Music Group is in the early stages of talks with Google about licensing artists’ voices for songs created by artificial intelligence, according to The Financial Times. Warner Music Group has also discussed this possibility, The Financial Times reported.
Advances in artificial-intelligence-driven technology have made it relatively easy for a producer sitting at home to create a song involving a convincing facsimile of a superstar’s voice — without that artist’s permission. Hip-hop super-fans have been using the technology to flesh out unfinished leaks of songs from their favorite rappers.
One track in particular grabbed the industry’s attention in March: “Heart On My Sleeve,” which masqueraded as a new collaboration between Drake and the Weeknd. At the time, a Universal Music spokesperson issued a statement saying that “stakeholders in the music ecosystem” have to choose “which side of history… to be on: the side of artists, fans and human creative expression, or on the side of deep fakes, fraud and denying artists their due compensation.”
“In our conversations with the labels, we heard that the artists are really pissed about this stuff,” Geraldo Ramos, co-founder and CEO of the music technology company Moises, told Billboard recently. (Moises has developed its own AI-driven voice-cloning technology, along with the technology to detect whether a song clones someone else’s voice.) “How do you protect that artist if you’re a label?” added Matt Henninger, Moises’ vp of sales and business development.
The answer is probably licensing: Develop a system in which artists who are fine with having their voices cloned clear those rights — in exchange for some sort of compensation — while those acts who are uncomfortable with being replicated by technology can opt out. Just as there is a legal framework in place that allows producers to sample 1970s soul, for example, by clearing both the master and publishing rights, in theory there could be some sort of framework through which producers obtain permission to clone a superstar’s voice.
AI-driven technology could “enable fans to pay their heroes the ultimate compliment through a new level of user-driven content,” Warner CEO Robert Kyncl told financial analysts this week. (“There are some [artists] that may not like it,” he continued, “and that’s totally fine.”)
On the same investor call, Kyncl also singled out “one of the first official and professionally AI-generated songs featuring a deceased artist, which came through our ADA Latin division:” A new Pedro Capmany track featuring AI-generated vocals from his father Jose, who died in 2001. “After analyzing hundreds of hours of interviews, acappellas, recorded songs, and live performances from Jose’s career, every nuance and pattern of his voice was modeled using AI and machine learning,” Kyncl explained.
After the music industry’s initial wave of alarm about AI, the conversation has shifted, according to Henninger. With widely accessible voice-cloning technology available, labels can’t really stop civilians from making fake songs accurately mimicking their artists’ vocals. But maybe there’s a way they can make money from all the replicants.
Henninger is starting to hearing different questions around the music industry. “How can [AI] be additive?” he asks. “How can it help revenue? How can it build someone’s brand?”
Reps for Universal and Warner did not respond to requests for comment.
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Source: Variety / Getty / Kanye West
If you’re one of the few who hate watching The Weeknd’s godawful show on MAX, aka HBO MAX, The Idol, you caught the dig at Kanye West.
The Idol is a hot ass mess, don’t take our word for it, you can head over to Rotten Tomatoes to see The Weekend and Euphoria creator Sam Levinson’s show get dunked on by critics and viewers, but it does have one highlight we can all root for, clowning Kanye West.
Spotted on TMZ, in the MAX limited-series fifth and final episode, Lily-Rose Depp’s character takes a shot at Ye and his love for Adolph Hitler.
Per TMZ:
In Sunday night’s finale, Lily-Rose Depp‘s character, Jocelyn, puts on a talent showcase for her management at her home in order to convince them she’s ready to go back on tour after a tumultuous few months.
Jocelyn’s management is skeptical at first, wondering if she’ll be able to sell seats … and that’s when the jab comes at Ye. Jocelyn’s agent says, “You know f****** Kanye was filling arenas until he decided to start following Adolf Hitler.”
Now if you need a refresher on what the former billionaire took his sad act on Info Wars with far-right Hulk Hogan, Alex Jones’ show Infowars where he had plenty of praise for Hitler and Nazi ideology.
“I see good things about Hitler … Every human being has something of value that they brought to the table, especially Hitler,” West said during the episode that Jones lost control of as the rapper rambled on.
Jones himself filed for bankruptcy after a judge ordered him to pay $1.5 billion in damages to the parents of Sandy Hook shooting victims.
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Photo: Variety / Getty
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HBO’s controversial drama series The Idol made its world premiere at Cannes Film Festival on Monday night (May 22), where it received a standard-measure five-minute standing ovation, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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Additionally, the publication reported that co-creator and director Sam Levinson became teary eyed as he expressed that he’s “proud of this show, proud of how we made this show.”
He also praised the cast members of The Idol cast, adding, “I feel like I gained a family. I know that’s a little culty, but that’s how it feels.”
The Weeknd, who originally pitched the concept of The Idol to HBO, makes his acting debut in the seedy musical drama, starring alongside Lily-Rose Depp, who plays a pop star in crisis and on the brink of a nervous breakdown. The “Blinding Lights” singer plays Tedros, the leader of a cult who seduces Depp’s Jocelyn.
Suzanna Son, Rachel Sennott, Troye Sivan, Dan Levy, Mike Dean, Moses Sumney, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Hank Azaria, BLACKPINK’s Jennie and more are all also set to appear in the pop star-themed series. Along with Levinson and The Weeknd, Reza Fahim is also a co-creator of the upcoming show.
The Weeknd recently defended The Idol with after Rolling Stone reported that production had been marred with controversy. “I thought the article was ridiculous. I wanted to give a ridiculous response to it,” he told Vanity Fair, pointing to his tweet responding to the story with a clip from The Idol in which his character says, “Rolling Stone? Aren’t they a little…irrelevant?”
The Idol hits HBO and MAX on June 4.
The Weeknd wants to retire his alter ego, The Weeknd and is open to making music as Abel Tesfaye, the stars were out for ‘The Little Mermaid’ Hollywood premiere and Halle Bailey talks about playing the iconic role of Ariel, Colde, and RM top the Hot Trending Songs chart. Elena Rose tells us who she wants to be in her dream girl group and get to know Shenseea more on Billboard’s speed date!
The star-studded bidding war over the Ottawa Senators is heating up, as The Weeknd has reportedly thrown his hat into the ring to purchase the NHL team.
The “Blinding Lights” superstar joined a group led by Toronto billionaires Jeffrey and Michael Kimel of the Harlo Capital Group aiming to make the purchase, according to a report from Ottawa Sun. The publication added that the Toronto native (born Abel Tesfaye) is a longtime hockey fan and has personal ties to Ottawa, Canada. Billboard has also reached out to The Weeknd’s reps for more information.
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Snoop Dogg and another famous Canadian, Vancouver native Ryan Reynolds, have also previously joined separate groups bidding on the team, which hasn’t won a Stanley Cup since they joined the NHL in 1992. The bidding deadline is May 15. Reynolds and the Remington Group are reportedly preparing a $1 billion bid. According to Ottawa Sun, there are seven groups currently bidding for the purchase.
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman revealed during a SiriusXM interview last week that having a celebrity as part of an ownership group in Ottawa could be beneficial for the team. “It can be a plus for the franchise going forward,” he shared. “But the bids are going to have to stand on their own merit.”
The song reigns was originally released on The Weeknd’s album Starboy in 2016, before it was revived thanks in part to TikTok, which helped spark new promotion to radio and streaming services.
The collaboration marks each artist’s seventh Hot 100 No. 1 – and their second together, after “Save Your Tears” led in 2021 for two weeks.
If you need a guide to follow along with The Weeknd and Ariana Grande’s “Die For You (Remix),” find the lyrics below.I’m findin’ ways to articulate the feelin’ I’m goin’ throughI just can’t say I don’t love you, yeah‘Cause I love you, yeahIt’s hard for me to communicate the thoughts that I holdBut tonight, I’m gon’ let you knowLet me tell the truthBaby, let me tell the truth, yeah
You know what I’m thinkin’, see it in your eyesYou hate that you want me, hate it when you cryYou’re scared to be lonely, ‘specially in the nightI’m scared that I’ll miss you, happens every timeI don’t want this feelin’, I can’t afford loveI try to find reason to pull us apartIt ain’t workin’, ’cause you’re perfectAnd I know that you’re worth itI can’t walk away, oh
Even though we’re goin’ through it(Ah) and it makes you feel aloneJust know that I would die for you (Ooh) baby, I would die for you, yeahThe distance and the time between us (the distance and the time) It’ll never change my mind‘Cause baby, I would die for you (I would die for you)Baby, I would die for you, yeah
I’m findin’ ways to stay concentrated on what I gotta doBut baby boy, it’s so hard ’round youAnd yes, I’m blamin’ youAnd you know I can’t fake it, now or neverAnd you insinuating that you think we might be betterBetter me and youYeah, I know you do
You know what I’m thinkin’, see it in your eyesYou hate that you want me, hate it when you cryIt ain’t workin’, ’cause you’re perfectAnd I know you deserve itI can’t walk away
Even though we’re goin’ through it (even though) And it makes you feel aloneJust know that I would die for you (I would die for you)Baby, I would die for you, yeahThe distance and the time between usIt’ll never change my mind‘Cause baby, I would die for you, uh (I would die for you)Yeah, baby, I would die for you (I would die for you), yeah
I would die for you, I would lie for youKeep it real with you, I would kill for you, my babyI’m just sayin’, yeahI would die for you, I would lie for youKeep it real with you, I would kill for you, my babyNa-na, na-na-na, na-na
Even though we’re goin’ through it And it makes you feel aloneJust know that I would die for you (yeah)Baby, I would die for you, yeahThe distance and the time between usIt’ll never change my mind‘Cause baby, I would die for youBaby, I would die for you(Oh) yeah, babe
Lyrics licensed & provided by LyricFind
Lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Abel Tesfaye, Ariana Grande, William Thomas Walsh, Dylan Wiggins, Henry Russell Walter, Magnus August Hoiberg, Martin Daniel McKinney, Mejdi Rhars
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Source: Frazer Harrison / Getty
Well, it’s official, The Weeknd is the GOAT.
Okay, maybe he’s not. But the man did achieve a GOAT level honor as data gathered by the Guinness World Records suggest the Canadian crooner is the most popular artist on the planet today. Beating out the likes of Drake, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and whoever else you thought might’ve been today’s biggest musician. The “Blinding Lights” singer proved to be the most beloved artist in this digital era as fans have streamed his catalogue way more than anyone else you may call the GOAT.
“No one else even comes close,” the record-keeping organization declared Monday.
Guinness argues its case by citing the “Starboy” performer’s Spotify stats, including an unmatched 111.4 million monthly listeners. The 33-year-old Grammy winner has nearly 30 million more listeners than second-placed Miley Cyrus, which also puts him far ahead of Shakira, Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift and Rihanna.
Miley Cyrus was in second place?? Who knew? No shots.
Now that he knows he’s that dude in 2023, you can expect The Weeknd to strut with all kinds of swagger when he hits the road this Summer for his After Hours Til Dawn tour which kicks off in Portugal in June and returns to North America in September.
While we knew The Weeknd was one of the biggest artists in the game today, we didn’t know he was actually Guinness World Records huge. It would be interesting to see how many records he would’ve moved had streaming not been a thing and fans still had to buy CD’s and vinyl records to get their groove on to the falsetto professional. Maybe five times platinum? Maybe diamond? We’ll never know, but what we do know is that the man is doing his thing, and we can’t be mad at that.
What do y’all think of The Weeknd being the most popular music artist on the planet? Let us know in the comments section below.
Two musicians who sued The Weeknd for allegedly stealing key elements of his “Call Out My Name” say they’ve reached a settlement with the superstar to end the lawsuit.
The case, filed by Suniel Fox and Henry Strange (real names Neil Fox Parakh and Shyhi Henry Hsaio), claimed that The Weeknd’s 2018 hit copied the lead guitar and vocal hooks from their 2017 song called “Vibeking.”
But in a filing Friday (March 17) in Los Angeles federal court, lawyers for Fox and Strange said they had “reached a settlement in principle of this action.” Terms of the agreement were not disclosed, and the notice said the two camps were “still in the process of formalizing, executing, and consummating” the deal.
Representatives and an attorney for The Weeknd (real name Abel Tesfaye) did not immediately return a request for comment on the purported deal.
“Call Out My Name,” off The Weeknd’s the 2018 EP My Dear Melancholy, debuted at No. 4 on the Hot 100. The track, featuring the “menacing themes fans came accustomed to earlier in his career,” eventually spent 18 weeks on the chart.
Fox and Strange, who claim to have worked previously with Drake, Kanye West, Lady Gaga, filed their copyright infringement lawsuit in September 2021, claiming that The Weeknd and co-writer Frank Dukes had stolen the “atmospheric and melancholic sound” of their earlier song.
“’Vibeking’ and ‘Call Out My Name’ contain quantitatively and qualitatively similar material in their respective lead guitar and vocal hooks, including melodic, harmonic, and rhythmic elements distinctive to ‘Vibeking’,” attorneys for the two producers wrote.
Unlike many copyright accusers, Fox and Strange claimed to have solid evidence that The Weeknd actually listened to their song — an important factor in any copyright lawsuit. They cited alleged emails in which they sent the track to The Weeknd’s playback engineer, who allegedly replied: “I sent [The Weeknd] that track u made a while ago. He listened and liked it. But nothing ever happened.”
In a later email cited by the accusers, the same engineer then told them: “Just gonna tell [The Weeknd] that our production team wrote the track. Cool? Or u have another idea? Just don’t wanna say ‘hey, [Strange] wrote this’ when he doesn’t know u.”
The Weeknd denied all of the allegations, but the litigation never progressed to the point that he had a chance to make in-depth arguments about the merits of the case.