The Weeknd breaks Wembley Stadium ticket sales record
The Weeknd has broken another record with his London shows – this time for the number of ticket sales at Wembley Stadium.
The news was first highlighted by Live Nation UK, who announced that the multi-Grammy-winning artist had “broke Wembley Stadium’s record for sales with their traditional concert set up”.
It also reported that he had done so as his London show – held on Friday (August 18) – led to “87,000 tickets [being] sold.” The date was held as part of his ongoing ‘After Hours ‘Til Dawn’ Tour, and the last date of the European leg.
Following Live Nation announcing the record last week, the artist, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, shared the achievement on his now-expired Instagram stories. The update was also shared by his XO record label co-founder, Cash, who wrote: “Congratulations to my brother @theweeknd wowoowowow.”
The recent achievement marks the second consecutive time that The Weeknd has broken a record in the UK capital. Just last month, the artist broke the record for the highest attendance rate during his two-night run at London Stadium, which brought in a combined number of 160,000 fans.
At the time, Live Nation’s Touring President Omar Al-joulani shared his shock and appreciation for the landmark moment. “It’s incredible to see the Weeknd hit this milestone less than halfway through his massive sold-out European run,” he told Variety in an interview. “This historic moment in London shows the global fan base he has cultivated over the years.”
Darryl Eaton, CAA’s co-head of North American touring agreed, adding: “We couldn’t be more proud to work with him and his team on this incredible tour!”
According to Live Nation at the time (reported by HipHopDX), Tesfaye’s global tour has accumulated approximately $350million (£274,854,650) to date. Now, following the slot at Wembley closing off the European leg, the musician, songwriter and actor will now embark on his remaining shows, held across South America and Mexico.
The outlet also reports that over two million tickets have been sold for the remaining live dates, which will kick off at the Estadio BBVA in Monterrey, Mexico on September 25, and wrap up with a final show at Estadio Akron in Guadalajara, Mexico on October 25. Find tickets here.
In other news, The Weeknd recently confirmed that he was in the process of “finishing” his new album, which will close the trilogy that features ‘After Hours’ and ‘Dawn FM’.
Elsewhere, back in March Tesfaye was named the world’s most popular artist in terms of Spotify statistics – coming in with 111.4million monthly listeners at the time.
The report, shared by Guinness World Records, came just weeks after the musician became the first act in Spotify history to hit 100million monthly listener milestone.
The post The Weeknd breaks Wembley Stadium ticket sales record appeared first on NME.
Liberty Dunworth
NME
