The Weeknd has pushed the release of his new album, Hurry Up Tomorrow, because of the California wildfires, as well as cancelling a one-off performance at the city’s Rose Bowl venue on 25 January “out of respect and concern for the people of LA county”.
Hurry Up Tomorrow was due for release on 24 January. It will now arrive a week later on 31 January. “This city has always been a profound source of inspiration for me, and my thoughts are with everyone impacted during this difficult time,” the musician, AKA Abel Tesfaye, said in a statement posted to Instagram.
Hurry Up Tomorrow is the sixth album by the Weeknd, the final part of a trilogy alongside After Hours and Dawn FM – and purportedly the last album under Tesfaye’s stage name.
“As the Weeknd, I’ve said everything I can say,” Tesfaye told W magazine in 2023. “I’ll still make music, maybe as Abel, maybe as the Weeknd. But I still want to kill the Weeknd. And I will. Eventually. I’m definitely trying to shed that skin and be reborn.”
The album is set to feature Playboi Carti, Anitta, Max Martin and Pharrell Williams among others.
Tesfaye’s focus now, he wrote in a statement, “remains on supporting the recovery of these communities and aiding its incredible people as they rebuild”. Tesfaye’s XO Humanitarian Fund has previously donated $4.5m (£3.7m) to hunger relief efforts in Gaza.
As LA firefighters prepare for dangerous winds to return and further fan the disastrous wildfires, Beyoncé has also delayed an announcement planned for 14 January.
“I continue to pray for healing and rebuilding for the families suffering from trauma and loss,” she said in a statement. “We are so blessed to have brave first responders who continue to work tirelessly to protect the Los Angeles community.”
The musician called for people to join her BeyGood foundation in supporting the victims of the fire after it donated $2.5m to fire relief efforts.
Meanwhile the Grammy awards ceremony, set to take place at LA’s Crypto.com arena, will continue on 2 February as planned, Recording Academy Group CEO Harvey Mason Jr confirmed.
“This year’s show, however, will carry a renewed sense of purpose,” said Mason Jr, “raising additional funds to support wildfire relief efforts and honouring the bravery and dedication of first responders who risk their lives to protect ours.”
Universal Music Group posted that it would cancel all of the label’s Grammy-related events, including artists showcases and parties, and redirect the resources to efforts to support those affected by the fires.
Source: theguardian.com
