The Weeknd was toying with the notion of retirement for a while there, but now he asserts that he’s “not going anywhere.”
First, some context. The pop star—whose real name is Abel Tesfaye—teased in 2025 that he might hang up his hat sometime in the near future. “It’s a headspace I’ve gotta get into that I just don’t have any more desire for,” he said at the time, per NME.
Now, in a September 2026 interview with GQ Hong Kong, he’s confirmed that he’s “not stepping away from anything.” He is simply “hibernating” at the moment.
The Weeknd seems to be plotting a new “story” for his future
“My fans know I’ve shed my skin multiple times throughout my career,” he explained. “I was telling one story from 2020 until now, and that story has reached its conclusion. But that’s only the 2020 story.”
The singer did confess that “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.”
He continued, “I had a glimpse of what retirement looks like, and it isn’t for me,” he concluded. “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 interview comes after The Weeknd told fans during an August 2026 concert that he has no plans to leave music. “I’ll never disappear. I love this too much to ever disappear. I tested retirement a little bit, and I don’t like the way it feels. Imma be here forever with you,” The Weeknd said in Stockholm.
Previously, The Weeknd joked that he might change his moniker like Kanye “Ye” West
NME noted that this all started with the aforementioned 2025 interview, wherein The Weeknd seemed to be done with his career. “I feel like it comes with so much. You have a persona, but then you have the competition of it all. It becomes this rat race,” the “Starboy” added. “It never ends until you end it.” He also joked that he might take the “YE” route and start going by “ABEL” instead, while “brainstorming” his plans.
The Weeknd later clarified that his notions of retirement were more about his persona than his art. “Everything needs to feel like a challenge. And for me right now, The Weeknd, whatever that is, it’s been mastered. No one’s gonna do the Weeknd better than me, and I’m not gonna do it better than what it is right now.”
Photo by Pedro Becerra/Getty Images for Live Nation
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