Abel Tesfaye Speaks On Retirement: 'The Weeknd Isn’t Going Anywhere'

The Weeknd first signaled the end of his longtime stage name in 2023 after he ditched his moniker on social media. In an interview with W Magazine, Tesfaye said he was "getting to a place and a time where I'm getting ready to close the Weeknd chapter." Fast-forward to 2025, Tesfaye told The New York Times that his Hurry Up Tomorrow album and its accompanying film starring himself, Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan would most likely be his final act as The Weeknd. Nowadays, he thinks retiring in general would be a waste of inspiration.

"I can't even put into words the amount of inspiration I've felt over the last year. I can't contain it," Tesfaye explained. "At one point I thought, 'What if I just stopped?' But then I realized what a waste all of that inspiration would be. I can't let that happen. I had a glimpse of what retirement looks like, and it isn't for me. It's a real privilege to do what I do. There's nothing else like this job. The gratitude I've felt over the last year has been overwhelming. I'm going to keep doing this for as long as I possibly can. The Weeknd isn't going anywhere."

The Weeknd's latest interview arrived as four covers for the launch of GQ Singapore and the one-year anniversary of GQ Hong Kong. Elsewhere in the interview, Tesfaye revealed that he's working on a remaster of his classic 2013 debut album Kiss Land.

"I've been obsessing over that album recently," he said. "I'm in the process of remastering it because it's the one project I never felt I executed exactly the way I envisioned. I'm excited to go back under the hood and finally make it into what I always knew it could be."

Tesfaye's latest interview dropped ahead of The Weeknd's tour in Asia, which begins this Saturday in Japan. See the complete list of tour dates here and check out more shots from his interview below.