Canadian pop star Abel Tesfaye, better known by his stage name The Weeknd, has made history with his just-concluded After Hours Til Dawn Stadium Tour.
Since kicking off in Philadelphia, United States, in July 2022, the After Hours Til Dawn Stadium Tour has sold more than 9 million tickets and grossed over US$1.3bil (RM5.27bil).
It is now the highest-grossing by a male artiste in history and one of only a handful of tours ever to surpass the billion-dollar mark, according to entertainment company Live Nation.
The tour spanned 176 shows across 67 cities, 30 countries and five continents, travelling across North America, Europe, Latin America, Australia and Asia.
The Asia leg ran from September to November. It was originally announced with 11 dates, but quickly expanded to 17 shows due to overwhelming demand.
This includes two sold out nights at Singapore’s National Stadium on Oct 2 and 3.
The 36-year-old performer also played three nights in Bangkok and four nights in Hong Kong, before closing the tour at the TM Stadium Nasional in Kuala Lumpur on Nov 5.
Originally planned for 2020 to support his fourth album After Hours, released that same year, the tour was postponed to 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and renamed to incorporate elements from his 2022 follow-up, Dawn FM.
In 2024 and 2025, the tour was again revamped to include songs and new stage elements tied to his sixth album, Hurry Up Tomorrow (2025).
The Weeknd also recently surprised fans with the release of the song Hong Kong, which features Cantopop icon Faye Wong, on Oct 31. The release comes after he debuted the song on Oct 24, during the opening night of his Hong Kong stop at Kai Tak Stadium.
The single has already broken several records across China’s major music streaming platforms.
On NetEase Cloud Music, it achieved the biggest first-day debut for a non-Mandarin song in the past five years across streams, likes, saves, comments and shares, while making The Weeknd the first international artiste in five years to reach No. 1 on all three major charts (Hot Song, Surging and New Music) on release day.
On QQ Music, the track earned the biggest debut ever for a Western male artiste across streams, saves, comments and shares, and made The Weeknd the first Western artise in 2026 to top all three major charts on release day. – The Straits Times/Asia News Network
