{"id":2086032,"date":"2026-08-10T11:55:05","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T08:55:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2086032"},"modified":"2026-08-10T11:55:05","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T08:55:05","slug":"the-weeknd-appears-to-do-about-face-on-retiring-stage-name-imma-be-here-forever-with-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2086032","title":{"rendered":"The Weeknd Appears to Do About-Face on Retiring Stage Name: \u2018Imma Be Here Forever With You\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/P101JDYD-e1786361103601.jpg?w=1024″]<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\tTrending on Billboard\t\t<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tLike a professional boxer who just can\u2019t quit the ring, Abel Tesfaye can\u2019t cut The Weeknd short. The singer revealed over the weekend that he\u2019s reconsidered plans he announced last year to retire his stage persona. \u201cIt\u2019s a headspace I\u2019ve gotta get into that I just don\u2019t have any more desire for,\u201d he continues. \u201cYou 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

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See latest videos, charts and news<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n\tTesfaye has been releasing music as The Weeknd since 2011, but last year when asked by Variety<\/em> magazine to explain social media teasers for his then-upcoming Hurry Up Tomorrow<\/em> album that read: \u201cThe Weeknd\/ The End is Near\/ 8 beautiful chapters in this story,\u201d he said he was considering retiring the name after he wrapped up his already-on-the-books commitments.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cIt\u2019s a headspace I\u2019ve gotta get into that I just don\u2019t have any more desire for,\u201d he explained at the time. \u201cYou 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tBut, over the weekend, during the kick-off of his run of three shows in Stockholm, the singer told. the crowd that he\u2019s had a change of heart. \u201cI\u2019ll never disappear. I love this too much to ever disappear. I tested retirement a little bit, and I don\u2019t like the way it feels. I said, Imma be here forever with you, I\u2019ll never disappear,\u201d he said according to fan video, crooning the last two lines like a song.<\/p>\n

\n\tTo be fair, in the 2025 Variety<\/em> interview, Tesfaye didn\u2019t say he was retiring from music entirely, just that he was considering mothballing his long-held stage name\/persona. The singer who has branched out into acting and producing (The Idol<\/em>, Uncut Gems<\/em>), said at the time he didn\u2019t think he could quit music entirely, but that he needed a change.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cI don\u2019t think I\u00a0can<\/em>\u00a0stop doing that,\u201d he said of making music. \u201cBut everything needs to feel like a challenge. And for me right now, The Weeknd, whatever that is, it\u2019s been mastered. No one\u2019s gonna do the Weeknd better than me, and I\u2019m not gonna do it better than what it is right now. I think I\u2019ve overcome every challenge as this persona, and that\u2019s why I\u2019m really excited about this film, because I love this challenge. But I just want to know what comes after. I want to know what tomorrow looks like.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe idea to possibly wind down the enigmatic stage persona came after a rough performance at L.A.\u2019s SoFi Stadium in 2022 where he lost his voice four songs in, which ended the show early. A doctor visit showed nothing out of the ordinary, with the Weeknd suggesting that the issue was mental rather than physical.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cPart of me actually was thinking, \u2018You lost your voice because it\u2019s done; you said what you had to say. Don\u2019t overstay at the party \u2014 you can end it now and live a happy life\u2019,\u201d he said at the time of the canceled 2022 show. \u201cPut the bow on it: Hurry Up Tomorrow<\/em>? Now we\u2019re here. When is the right time to leave, if not at your peak? Once you understand who I am too much, then it\u2019s time to pivot.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe Weeknd\u2019s After Hours Til Dawn tour will continue on Monday night (Aug. 10) in Stockholm with the final show at Strawberry Arena before moving on to a five-night run at Wembley Stadium in London.<\/p>\n

\"Billboard<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/music\/rb-hip-hop\/the-weeknd-changes-mind-retiring-stage-name-abel-1236312428\/”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/www.billboard.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/P101JDYD-e1786361103601.jpg?w=1024″] Trending on Billboard Like a professional boxer who just can\u2019t quit the ring, Abel Tesfaye can\u2019t cut The Weeknd short. The singer revealed over the weekend that he\u2019s reconsidered plans he announced last year to retire his stage persona. \u201cIt\u2019s a headspace I\u2019ve gotta get into that I just don\u2019t have any […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[48,226],"class_list":["post-2086032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-billboard-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2086032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2086032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2086032\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2086032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2086032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2086032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}