The Weeknd has completed a five-night sold-out run at Wembley Stadium, with his UK stint raising more than $350,000 (£260,000) for charity.
READ MORE: The Weeknd live in Manchester: the summer’s latest blockbuster smash
The Canadian pop superstar played the final of his Wembley shows on Wednesday night (August 19), and the UK leg of the ‘After Hours Til Dawn’ tour also included two shows at Manchester’s Etihad Stadium in June.
Between the seven concerts, The Weeknd attracted more than 450,000 fans, with tickets purchased by people from nearly 150 countries.
The shows also generated more than $350,000 for the United Nations World Food Programme and Global Citizen, after £1 from each UK ticket sold was donated to the charities, as well as €1 from every ticket sold in Europe.
The money will support the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund, which aims to increase access to education for children around the world, as well as The Weeknd’s XO Humanitarian Fund, which supports the World Food Programme’s response to the global hunger crisis.
Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has said: “London has been hugely proud to welcome The Weeknd for more shows than any other city in the world this year. His five performances have brought hundreds of thousands of fans to Wembley Stadium, providing a huge boost to our tourism and hospitality industries, and showing why London is the music capital of the world.”
The ‘After Hours Til Dawn’ stadium tour draws together The Weeknd’s recent albums ‘After Hours’ (2020), ‘Dawn FM’ (2022) and ‘Hurry Up Tomorrow’ (2025), and last year it was named the highest-grossing tour ever by a male solo artist. It has surpassed $1billion in global revenue and sold more than 7.5million tickets.
It continues with two shows at Dublin’s Croke Park this weekend, followed by dates in Madrid, Barcelona and Lisbon, before an Asian leg later this year. See the remaining dates and further information here.
Wembley Stadium was criticised after one of The Weeknd’s shows when fireworks were used during the finale, just hours after a government emergency alert warned people across England and Wales not to use fireworks due to the risk of wildfires.
In other news, Abel Tesfaye confirmed earlier this month that he was no longer planning to retire The Weeknd moniker. “I’ll never disappear,” he told fans in Stockholm. “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.”
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