After Hours (The Weeknd album)

The Weeknd first teased that he was working on a new album during a performance in November 2018, telling the crowd that "Chapter VI was coming soon". He continued to tease the project on January 12, 2019, by tweeting "no more daytime music". His post made fans and media outlets believe that he would continue the darker sounds that were present in his first EP My Dear Melancholy (2018). The Weeknd further teased the album on August 6 of that year by tweeting "album mode full effect". After a five-month period of silence, the Weeknd revealed a snippet of the album's second single "Blinding Lights" through a Mercedes-Benz commercial. The next day, he teased the album's lead single "Heartless", which was released on November 27, 2019; "Blinding Lights" was released two days later. In the hours leading up to the release of "Heartless", the Weeknd took to social media to tease the album's era, posting "the fall starts tomorrow night" and "Tonight we start a new brain melting psychotic chapter! Let's go!" On February 13, 2020, the Weeknd revealed the album's title through a short teaser. On February 19, he revealed the album's artwork and release date, and released its title track as a promotional single. On March 17, the Weeknd unveiled After Hours tracklist. Hours before the album was released, the Weeknd announced that After Hours was dedicated to longtime fan Lance, the host of the XO Podcast who died the night before. On its release day, the album premiered on the eighth episode of the Weeknd's Apple Music 1 radio show Memento Mori. At the same time, the Weeknd hosted a listening session on Spotify. A deluxe edition of the album, containing five remixes, was surprise released on March 23, 2020. An updated deluxe edition, containing three additional tracks, was released on March 30. A remix EP, featuring the deluxe edition's remixes and an additional remix, was released on April 3. == Composition ==

Musically, After Hours has been described as synth-pop, electropop, new wave, trap, drum and bass, liquid funk, and synth-rock. Lyrically, After Hours explores themes of heartbreak, escapism, loneliness, promiscuity, overindulgence, self-loathing and regret. When asked about the reason behind the album's title, the Weeknd explained to Variety: "Oh, there are so many reasons for it. The main reason is these are all emotions and thoughts and feelings that I had late at night – [like the video] is all one night and I'm going through all the emotions, after the club, after the fight and after a long day, it's like these are my thoughts from 3 a.m. to 5 a.m." == Artwork and aesthetic ==

The artwork and aesthetic for the album's promotional material has been described as psychedelic and being inspired by various films, such as: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), Joker (2019), Casino (1995), and Uncut Gems (2019), with the last film having a cameo appearance by the Weeknd himself. The title of the album was inspired by the 1985 movie of the same name by Martin Scorsese. The Weeknd's physical appearance in the era has been described by journalists as being red-pigmented, with him consistently maintaining a red suit and specific hairstyle throughout all of the album's promotional material, such as its artwork, music videos, teasers, and live performances, with its music videos and live performances used to create a mini story. The album's overall art direction was primarily handled by the Tammi brothers, == Promotion ==

Singles On November 27, 2019, the album's lead single, "Heartless", was released digitally on music stores and streaming services. The song was noticeably produced by American record producer Metro Boomin. At the time of its release, it was the Weeknd's first solo single since 2018's "Call Out My Name" from the EP My Dear Melancholy (2018). The single peaked at number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 and became the Weeknd's fourth song to top the chart, with it also becoming Metro Boomin's second chart topper that he produced. Its music video was released on December 3, 2019. "Blinding Lights" was released digitally on music stores and streaming services on November 29, 2019, as the album's second single. The song peaked at number one in 22 countries, including the United States and Canada, where it became the Weeknd's fifth number-one single on the Billboard Hot 100 and the Canadian Hot 100 for four and seven weeks respectively. It also became his first number-one single in Germany for ten weeks, United Kingdom for eight weeks, and Australia for eleven weeks, thus making it his biggest hit single to date. Its music video was released on January 21, 2020. It would later become the Billboard No. 1 Song of All Time in 2021. The album's title track was released as a promotional single on February 19, 2020. "In Your Eyes" was released to rhythmic contemporary radio on March 24, 2020, as the album's third single. The song peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100. Its music video was released on March 23, 2020. "Save Your Tears" was released to contemporary hit radio in Europe as the album's fourth single on August 9, 2020. It was later released to US rhythmic contemporary radio on November 24, 2020. Following the remix with Ariana Grande, the song peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. Performances On December 5, 2019, the Weeknd performed "Heartless" for the first time on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert with "Blinding Lights" receiving its debut performance the following day on the same show. Both performances received positive reactions from critics and audiences, and were compared to those done by Michael Jackson and Prince in the past. On January 22, 2020, the Weeknd performed "Blinding Lights" on Jimmy Kimmel Live!. His appearance during the performance on the show was inspired by the events that occurred within the aforementioned single's music video, which was released shortly before his live performance. For his performance on the March 7, 2020, episode of Saturday Night Live, He performed a comedic track alongside Kenan Thompson and Chris Redd, made specifically for the show, titled "On the Couch", and the songs: "Blinding Lights" and the previously unreleased "Scared to Live", the latter of which featured electronic musician Oneohtrix Point Never and interpolates "Your Song" by Elton John. Throughout 2020, various other performances of the album's songs occurred during major televised events like the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards, the 2020 Time 100 primetime event, the American Music Awards of 2020. Teaser and short film On February 13, 2020, the Weeknd released a 48-second teaser that announced the album's title. Journalists noted its resemblance to the digital work done in the 2019 film Uncut Gems, which he had a cameo in. A self titled short film for the album was first teased on March 3, 2020, with its release occurring on March 4, 2020. It was directed by Anton Tammi and continued the storyline and aesthetics found in the visuals for "Heartless" and "Blinding Lights". The film is set shortly after the Weeknd's performance of "Blinding Lights" on Jimmy Kimmel Live! (dated January 22, 2020) and features various snippets of the tracks from the album as he navigates a subway. The visual was noted by journalists as being inspired by the films Joker and The Shining. The promotional single reached the top 20 of various countries worldwide, including the United States, where it peaked at number 20 on the Billboard Hot 100. On April 7, 2020, a music video for the album's closing track "Until I Bleed Out" was released. On July 22, 2020, a music video for the album's fifth track "Snowchild" was released. On October 22, 2020, a music video for the album's second track "Too Late" was released. Tour On February 20, 2020, the Weeknd announced the After Hours Tour, set to span North America and Europe. The tour would have originally lasted throughout the latter half of 2020, beginning on June 11 and ending on November 12. The tour was later postponed to 2021, then to 2022, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sabrina Claudio, Don Toliver and Black Atlass were set to open the tour. On October 18, 2021, the Weeknd announced that due to arena constraints, the start of tour would be pushed back to the summer of 2022 and would now be held entirely in stadiums. He also announced that the tour would now be called the After Hours til Dawn Stadium Tour, as it also supports his fifth studio album Dawn FM (2022). In 2025, the tour additionally supported his sixth studio album Hurry Up Tomorrow, which was released that year. Super Bowl LV halftime show On November 12, 2020, the Weeknd announced that he would be performing during the Super Bowl LV halftime show. The event took place on February 7, 2021. Dave Meyers executive produced the show, while Roc Nation produced and creatively directed. Hamish Hamilton, the event's annual director since 2010, returned to direct the performance. == Critical reception ==

After Hours was met with generally positive reviews from contemporary critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from professional publications, the album received an average score of 80, based on 20 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Writing for Consequence, Candace McDuffie stated that as the Weeknd evolves, "he continues to reinvent himself, and he knows exactly how to leave fans hooked on havoc", and After Hours proves that he is "not done with us yet; in fact, he's just getting started". In less favourable reviews, David Smyth of Evening Standard particularly praised the track "Blinding Lights", but found the Weeknd to be "in a bit of a fug" on the rest of After Hours. Year-end lists Industry awards == Commercial performance ==

On March 19, 2020, After Hours broke the record for the most global pre-adds for an album in Apple Music history, with over 1.02 million users pre-adding the album to their libraries. After Hours debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200 with 444,000 album-equivalent units, which included 275,000 pure album sales. It is the Weeknd's fourth number-one album, and marks the biggest first week sales of 2020 for an album at the time. Additionally, after the album's first week of availability, all 14 songs charted on the US Billboard Hot 100, with ten of them in the top 40, led by "Blinding Lights" at number one, and "In Your Eyes" debuting the highest, at number 16. The album remained at number one on the Billboard 200 in its second week with 138,000 album-equivalent units, of which 47,000 were pure album sales. It is the Weeknd's third consecutive album to top the chart for multiple weeks. In its third week, the album remained at number one on the Billboard 200 with 90,000 album-equivalent units (including 23,000 pure album sales). Becoming the first album to lead for three consecutive weeks since Post Malone's ''Hollywood's Bleeding (2019). In its fourth week, After Hours earned 75,000 album-equivalent units (including 20,000 pure album sales), remaining at number one on the Billboard'' 200 chart. It's the first album to notch four consecutive weeks since Drake's Scorpion (2018). After Hours was the fourth best selling album of 2020 with 2.032 million album-equivalent units, including 480,000 pure copies in the US. In 2021, After Hours was the tenth best selling album of the year in the United States, moved 1,281,000 album-equivalent units, including 99,000 pure copies. On December 6, 2022, After Hours was certified triple platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for earning over three million album-equivalent units in the US. It also topped the Canadian Albums Chart of the Weeknd's home country, generating 54,000 album-equivalent units, which marked the biggest first-week album sales of the year. It achieved a total of six non-consecutive weeks atop the chart, the most by a Canadian artist since the Weeknd's own Starboy, which led the chart for seven weeks in 2016–2017. == Grammy controversy ==

Despite the major critical success of After Hours, the Weeknd did not receive any nominations for the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards. On November 24, 2020, he responded by calling the Grammys "corrupt" in social media posts, announcing the cancellation of his scheduled live performance at the ceremony. Speculation arose over whether the announcement of his then-upcoming Super Bowl performance, as well as the confusion as to whether he should be nominated as pop or R&B, contributed to the snubs in all the categories he was submitted to by his team. Harvey Mason Jr., interim president of the Recording Academy, responded to the backlash by saying: The Weeknd later remarked in an interview with Billboard that the snub felt like "an attack", asserting: "Look, I personally don't care anymore. I have three GRAMMYs, which mean nothing to me now, obviously [...] It's not like, 'Oh, I want the GRAMMY!' It's just that this happened, and I'm down to get in front of the fire, as long as it never happens again. I suck at giving speeches anyways. Forget awards shows." Despite the Recording Academy announcing the elimination of private nominating committees, the Weeknd said that moving forward with his career, he will prevent his major label executives from submitting his work for Grammy consideration. The Weeknd would later perform at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards after being introduced by Mason Jr., who in his introductory speech declared that the Academy had revised its nominating committee in response to the controversy. == Track listing ==

Notes • signifies a co-producer • signifies an additional producer • signifies an uncredited co-producer • The deluxe edition of the album was initially released on March 23, featuring tracks 2–6 of the Remixes EP as bonus tracks. On March 30, the release was updated to include three new bonus tracks before the remixes. On April 3, the remixes were released as a separate EP, with track 1 added, while the deluxe edition of the album was amended to end at "Final Lullaby". • "Save Your Tears" Remix with Ariana Grande was added to the deluxe edition of the album in March 2022. Sample credits • "Scared to Live" contains interpolations from "Your Song", written by Elton John and Bernard Taupin. == Personnel ==

Credits adapted from liner notes. Musicians • The Weeknd – vocals (all tracks), background vocalist (tracks 3–4, 9–11), keyboards, programming (tracks 1–11, 13–14), bass, guitar, drums (tracks 3–4, 9–11) • Max Martin – bass, drums, guitar, keyboards, programming (tracks 3–4, 9–11) • Oscar Holter – bass, drums, guitar, keyboards, programming (tracks 3–4, 9–11) • Illangelo – keyboards, programming (tracks 1–2, 5–8, 13) • Metro Boomin – keyboards, programming (track 6–8, 14) • DaHeala – keyboards, programming (tracks 1–2, 5, 13) • Frank Dukes – keyboards, programming (track 1) • Ricky Reed – keyboards, programming (track 2) • OPN – keyboards, programming (track 14) • Prince 85 – keyboards, programming (track 14) • Notinbed – keyboards, programming (track 14) • Nate Mercereau – keyboards, programming (track 2) • Mike McTaggart – guitar (track 6) • Patrick Greenaway – guitar (track 8) • Rickard Goransson – guitar (track 10) • Michael Engström – bass (track 10) • Wojtek Goral – alto saxophone (track 10) • Tomas Jonsson – tenor saxophone (track 10) • Mattias Bylund – horn arrangement, synthesizer (track 10) • Nils-Petter Ankarblom – horn arrangement, synthesizer (track 10) • Magnus Sjolander – percussion (track 10) • Miko Rezler – percussion (track 10) • Peter Noos Johansson – trombone (track 10) • Janne Bjerger – trumpet (track 10) • Magnus Johansson – trumpet (track 10) Technical • Illangelo – engineering, mixing (tracks 1–2, 5–8, 13) • Shin Kamiyama – engineering (all tracks) • Michael Ilbert – engineering (track 4, 10–11) • Sam Holland – engineering (tracks 3–4, 10–11) • Jason "DaHeala" Quenneville – engineering (track 13) • Ethan Shumaker – engineering (track 2) • Matt Cohn – engineering, mixing (tracks 12, 14) • Şerban Ghenea – mixing (tracks 3–4, 9–11) • John Hanes – engineering for mixing (tracks 3–4, 9–11) • Cory Bice – engineering assistant (tracks 3–4, 9–11) • Jeremy Lertola – engineering assistant (tracks 3–4, 9–11) • Sean Klein – engineering assistant (track 9) • Dave Kutch – mastering • Kevin Peterson – mastering == Charts ==

Weekly charts Year-end charts == Certifications ==