History has been made with the artist The Weeknd after his release of “Hurry Up Tomorrow” on Jan. 31, 2025. His journey was not short, it took years of dedication to his craft in R&B/Soul and the storylines of his albums. After the release of his newest album, he is now going to go by his name Abel Tesfaye and leave The Weeknd in the past.
His music portrayed throughout time
This journey started with the release of “House of Balloons,” his first album in 2011. This album wasn’t a party album, as it was looked at as an after-party album. It shows the fun has already happened and starts to reveal how emotional and desperate everything was.
Also released in 2011, he created the album “Thursday.” The Album was released five months after his debut mixtape and many still did not know about him as an artist at the time. “Thursday” has a different take from “House of Balloons” leaving the feeling joyless and scaring away potential lovers with this album.
Released in the trilogy “Echoes Of Silence” was the third and final album for the three releases. It Touches on a story of being rejected by a woman and she thought he was a “nobody.” After going through this, she grew through fame and wanted to get back with him. He treats her like crap and breaks the news to her they cannot be together.
“Kiss Land” the album was released in 2013, The Weeknd picks apart the idea of loneliness that comes with the fame you receive as you get bigger. The songs leave a strong sense of ennui, which takes the lighter moments of the sounds and makes the meanings harder to figure out. Many of the songs are hidden away with the factors of paranoia and loneliness.
“Beauty Behind the Madness” was an album released in 2015. This album put The Weeknd on the map and into a road to success. Hits like “Can’t Feel My Face” blew up and heavily got caught in social media. After this album, he was able to collaborate with many artists on the “Fifty Shades of Grey” soundtrack.
2016 was the year for The Weeknd’s album “Starboy.” The album features many mixed emotions such as melancholy, sadness and happiness. This album is a true experience with featured artists such as Daft Punk, Lana Del Ray, Kendrick Lamar and Future. They add depth to the songs and make “Starboy” a masterpiece. With experiencing all these emotions, the album is a journey for the listener.
“My Dear Melancholy,” was released in 2018 with five songs on the album. The album expresses thoughts of intimacy, sex and drugs. This brings you into a return to “House Of Balloons” with the after-party feel and how emotional things can get during a time.
“You can find love, fear, friends, enemies, violence, dancing, sex, demons, angels, loneliness, and togetherness all in the After Hours of the night,” The Weeknd said. The album “After Hours” was released in 2020 during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. This album is experimental in many different aspects such as new beats, thoughts and portraying a new side to him.
Still trying to tune into The Weeknd as an artist? “Dawn FM” shows a whole new side to his persona. After releasing an album after the pandemic, in 2022 he released a more upbeat and thoughtful experience for listeners. “Dawn FM” has Jim Carrey as the host, and he narrates you through all of The Weeknd’s experiences.
Waiting for the final release as The Weeknd, “Hurry Up Tomorrow” encapsulated what we all thought was going to be his final goodbye. On Jan. 31st he shared with everyone an intense reflection on his life and a career as an artist. This was the final trilogy with “After Hours,” “Dawn FM” and finally “”Hurry Up Tomorrow.” He ends with his final song “Hurry Up Tomorrow” and it fades into his first song on “High For This.” He has now gone full circle as The Weeknd and is ready to close that chapter of his life.
Achievements within his music journey
As The Weeknd, Tesfaye has accomplished many achievements. He performed at the 2020 Pepsi Superbowl halftime show. He also has the most songs that hit one-billion-streams, which is 24. He earned four Grammy Awards, three MTV Video Music Awards, one Latin Grammy Award, one nomination for an Academy award and a Primetime Emmy.
With “Hurry Up Tomorrow” finally being released, he is going on a tour called “After hours Till Dawn.” He is going to cover everything from “After Hours” to “Hurry Up Tomorrow” to complete his trilogy and The Weeknd Persona.
Even though he is closing this chapter in his life, he left a legacy with The Weeknd. He is opening a new chapter in his book as Abel Tesfaye and is still going to continue to make new music.