The Weeknd Teases Teases Final Album in Trilogy

The Weeknd is teasing that he is completing another trilogy. Over a decade after the artist released the compilation of his first three mixtapes (House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence) into one Trilogy album back in 2012, it seems as though the "Blinding Lights" singer is preparing to close out the current chapter in his career. Over the weekend, the Canadian artist, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, posted photos of his last two albums on his verified social media accounts. 2020's After Hours and 2022's Dawn FM album artworks made up the post, with a third and final slide consisting of a black slide with a white question mark in the middle and a parental advisory warning label. “3,” he wrote as the caption. Dawn FM celebrated its second anniversary the day of his Sunday post, making it all a calculated announcement for eager fans.

One fan commented, "WE READY." Commented another, "The new masterpiece is coming!" Another guessed the title of the third album would be: "After Life." Another fan said: "This album about to be named Sunrise to Sunset to follow the after hours and dawn."

As we previously reported, The Weeknd revealed that his next studio album could be his "last hurrah" -- at least under his long-running moniker. In May 2o23, the award-winning artist said that as The Weeknd, he's "said everything I can say." As he earlier explained, he’s on a "cathartic path right now."

He added that he will still make music, but "I still want to kill The Weeknd. And I will. Eventually. I’m definitely trying to shed that skin and be reborn." The Weeknd has been releasing music under his stage name since his House of Balloons days in the early 2010s. At first, the artist didn’t want to be known, but as he’s become a global phenomenon, it makes sense that he has no more need for the moniker.

See the teaser below:

Abel Tesfaye, AKA The Weeknd, was born on February 16, 1990. The Canadian crooner celebrates his birthday just two days after Valentine's Day, which seems fitting: his music has romance, sure, but it's a dark romance. It's definitely not the stuff of Hallmark cards. Born and raised in Toronto, Tesfaye began his career in 2009 by anonymously releasing music on YouTube. The following year, he met producer Jeremy Rose, who had an idea for a dark contemporary R&B project. Rose produced songs "What You Need," "Loft Music," and "The Party & The After Party," but they were scrapped. The producer let Abel keep the tracks he produced for him under the condition that he would be credited for them. In December 2010, Tesfaye uploaded "What You Need," "Loft Music," and "The Morning" to YouTube under the username xoxxxoooxo.

The songs began drawing attention, including that of Drake. He has collaborated with his fellow Canadian on five songs of Drake's sophomore album, Take Care. Abel gained further recognition when his song "Earned It" was featured in 2015's Fifty Shades of Grey.

Before adopting the stage name The Weeknd, Tesfaye released music under the aliases the Noise and Kin Kane. His current stage name was chosen in tribute to when he dropped out of school, took his mattress, "left one weekend and never came home." The dropping of the second "e" was to avoid trademark problems with the pop-rock band The Weekend. Tesfaye released his three mixtapes in 2011: House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence.

To commemorate the award-winning artist's birthday, we've compiled our favorite music videos that took us to another place.

The Weeknd plays around with mirroring images and a red color palette for the music video for "Secrets."

Filmed like a mini movie, "Blinding Lights" takes inspiration from films Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Joker and Casino.

The Weeknd's music videos for Dawn FM are some of his best to date, with "Sacrifice" being one of the coolest. Surrounded by cloaked figures dancing in a style reminiscent of Michael Jackson, with music to match, The Weeknd is offered sacrifice. At the end of the video, it is portrayed that his soul is being sucked out from above, much like a Dementor from Harry Potter.

The animated music video for "Save Your Tears" is stylized like animated series Rick and Morty, showing us the construction of an Ariana Grande robot.

Doja Cat and The Weeknd dive into the horoscope realm for this ethereal music video for "You Right." Doja Cat is a Libra and wore a hairpiece that mimicked her astrology sign, while The Weeknd evoked his Aquarius persona by pouring water (the "water-carrier").

Clearly inspired by classic horror films from the '70s and '80s (specifically, A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), the music video for "In Your Eyes" follows a woman who is being chased down by The Weeknd but manages to get to him first.

Walking towards a rising sun on the horizon, The Weeknd's music video for "Take My Breath" takes our breath away. For Dawn FM, the singer perfectly coordinated the music to visuals that further tell a story. Like a scene from Blade, party-goers are dressed in leather and chains at this underground rave.

As disturbing as it is to see ants being that close to someone's ear, The Weeknd went all out to create a storyline for "Gasoline." As an old Abel's hearing aid goes wonky while driving, he crashes his car and stumbles in a desolate place that transports him to a hellish club.