Anton Tammi

The album opened with first-week sales of 444,000 album-equivalent units in the U.S. and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, marking the Weeknd's fourth U.S. number-one album. Internationally, it peaked at number one in 20 countries, including Canada and the United Kingdom. The album received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for its production and cohesion; some critics named it the Weeknd's best work.

• Name — After Hours • Type — studio • Artist — the Weeknd • Cover — The Weeknd - After Hours.png • Released — 2020 3 20 • Recorded — 2018–2020 • Studio — * Conway (Los Angeles) • Elysian Park (Los Angeles) • Henson (Los Angeles) • Republic (Los Angeles) • House Mouse (Stockholm) • Jungle City (New York City) • Malibu Blue (Malibu) • MXM (Los Angeles and Stockholm) • Noble Street (Toronto) • XO (Hidden Hills) • Genre — * Synth-pop • electropop • new wave • synthwave • R&B • dream pop • Length — 56:19 • Label — * XO • Republic • Producer — * DaHeala • Illangelo • Kevin Parker • Max Martin • Metro Boomin • Notinbed • OPN • Oscar Holter • Prince 85 • Ricky Reed • The Weeknd • Prev Title — The Weeknd in Japan • Prev Year — 2018 • Next Title — The Highlights • Next Year — 2021 After Hours is the fourth studio album by the Canadian singer-songwriter the Weeknd. It was released on March 20, 2020, by XO and Republic Records. The standard edition of the album contains no guest appearances, but the deluxe edition features Ariana Grande and the remixes edition features Chromatics and Lil Uzi Vert. Production was primarily handled by the Weeknd alongside a variety of producers, including DaHeala, Illangelo, Max Martin, Metro Boomin, and OPN, most of whom the Weeknd had worked with previously. Prior to the album's release, the Weeknd confirmed that After Hours would contrast stylistically with its predecessor, Starboy (2016); some music journalists have noted the album reflects an artistic reinvention for the Weeknd, with the introduction of new wave and dream pop influences. The album's title is borrowed from the 1985 film of the same name, while its artwork and aesthetic was inspired by various other films. Thematically, After Hours explores loneliness, self-loathing, and escapism. It is also the first installment in a trilogy of albums, preceding Dawn FM (2022) and Hurry Up Tomorrow (2025). After Hours was supported by five singles: "Heartless", "Blinding Lights", the title track, "In Your Eyes", and "Save Your Tears". The former two reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100, with the latter's remix with Grande also topping the chart. The album opened with first-week sales of 444,000 album-equivalent units in the U.S. and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, marking the Weeknd's fourth U.S. number-one album. Internationally, it peaked at number one in 20 countries, including Canada and the United Kingdom. The album received generally positive reviews from critics, with praise for its production and cohesion; some critics named it the Weeknd's best work.

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.

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. The song was later sent to US rhythmic radio on February 25, 2020, as the album's third single. "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. The music video for the song was released on January 5, 2021.

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.

On February 18, 2020, the Weeknd announced the release of the album's title track with the reveal of the album's cover art. 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.

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.

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.

Select year-end rankings • Publication — List — Rank — Ref. Reference • Billboard — The 50 Best Albums of 2020 • Complex — The Best Albums of 2020 • Entertainment Weekly — The 15 Best Albums of 2020 • Exclaim! — Exclaim!s 50 Best Albums of 2020 • NME — The 50 Best Albums of 2020 • Rolling Stone — The 50 Best Albums of 2020 • Slant Magazine — The 50 Best Albums of 2020 • Uproxx — The Best Albums of 2020 • The Best R&B Albums of 2020 • Us Weekly — 10 Best Albums of 2020 • Variety — The Best Albums of 2020

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.Billie Eilish's Happier Than Ever broke this record in July 2021, with over 1.028 million pre-adds. It was the second most-streamed album of 2020 on Spotify. 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. The album debuted at number one on the UK Albums Chart with over 26,000 units sold, making it the Weeknd's second number one on the chart, five years after Beauty Behind the Madness. 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.

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.

• "Scared to Live" contains interpolations from "Your Song", written by Elton John and Bernard Taupin.

Credits adapted from liner notes.

• 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)

• 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

2020 chart performance • Chart (2020) — Peak position Australia Austria Flanders Wallonia BillboardCanada Czech Denmark Netherlands • Estonian Albums (Eesti Tipp-40) — 1 Finland France Germany Hungary • Icelandic Albums (Tónlistinn) — 1 Ireland3 Italy • Japanese Hot Albums (Billboard Japan) — 72 • Japanese Albums (Oricon) — 41 • Lithuanian Albums (AGATA) — 1 • Mexican Albums (AMPROFON) — 1 New Zealand Norway Poland Portugal Scotland • Slovak Albums (ČNS IFPI) — 1 • South Korean Albums (Circle) — 73 Spain Sweden Switzerland • Taiwanese Albums (Five Music) — 1 Billboard200 BillboardRandBHipHop 2025 chart performance • Chart (2025) — Peak position • Nigerian Albums (TurnTable) — 93

2020 year-end chart performance • Chart (2020) — Position • Australian Albums (ARIA) — 9 • Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) — 62 • Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) — 18 • Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) — 44 • Canadian Albums (Billboard) — 4 • Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI) — 9 • Danish Albums (Hitlisten) — 2 • Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) — 2 • French Albums (SNEP) — 24 • German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) — 61 • Icelandic Albums (Tónlistinn) — 4 • Irish Albums (IRMA) — 34 • Italian Albums (FIMI) — 20 • New Zealand Albums (RMNZ) — 25 • Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) — 2 • Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) — 54 • Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) — 3 • Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) — 17 • UK Albums (OCC) — 23 • US Billboard 200 — 8 • US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) — 6 2021 year-end chart performance • Chart (2021) — Position • Australian Albums (ARIA) — 50 • Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) — 29 • Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) — 67 • Canadian Albums (Billboard) — 17 • Danish Albums (Hitlisten) — 3 • Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) — 11 • French Albums (SNEP) — 59 • Icelandic Albums (Tónlistinn) — 5 • Italian Albums (FIMI) — 26 • Norwegian Albums (VG-lista) — 4 • Polish Albums (ZPAV) — 65 • Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) — 45 • Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) — 5 • UK Albums (OCC) — 63 • US Billboard 200 — 14 • US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) — 7 2022 year-end chart performance • Chart (2022) — Position • Australian Albums (ARIA) — 33 • Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) — 81 • Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) — 132 • Danish Albums (Hitlisten) — 14 • Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) — 18 • French Albums (SNEP) — 47 • Icelandic Albums (Tónlistinn) — 16 • Lithuanian Albums (AGATA) — 15 • Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE) — 66 • Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) — 34 • US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) — 68 2023 year-end chart performance • Chart (2023) — Position • Australian Albums (ARIA) — 32 • Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) — 65 • Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) — 51 • Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) — 63 • Canadian Albums (Billboard) — 42 • Danish Albums (Hitlisten) — 24 • Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) — 17 • French Albums (SNEP) — 160 • German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) — 63 • Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ) — 48 • Icelandic Albums (Tónlistinn) — 23 • Italian Albums (FIMI) — 44 • Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) — 28 • Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) — 89 • UK Albums (OCC) — 73 • US Billboard 200 — 159 • US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) — 48 2024 year-end chart performance • Chart (2024) — Position • Australian Albums (ARIA) — 53 • Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) — 109 • Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) — 120 • Danish Albums (Hitlisten) — 61 • Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) — 39 • German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) — 59 • Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ) — 46 • Icelandic Albums (Tónlistinn) — 76 • Italian Albums (FIMI) — 82 • Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) — 72 • US Billboard 200 — 96 • US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) — 32 2025 year-end chart performance • Chart (2025) — Position • Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) — 166 • Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) — 144 • Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) — 66 • Hungarian Albums (MAHASZ) — 65 • Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan) — 94 • US Billboard 200 — 113 • US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) — 38

Release dates and formats • Region — Date — Label(s) — Format(s) — Edition — Ref. • Various — March 20, 2020 — * XO * Republic — * CD * digital download * streaming — Standard • March 23, 2020 — * Digital download * streaming — Original deluxe • March 30, 2020 — Updated deluxe • April 3, 2020 — Remix EP • Japan — May 22, 2020 — Universal Music Japan — CD — Standard • Various — June 11, 2020 — * XO * Republic — Cassette • September 25, 2020 — LP • November 27, 2020 — Remix EP • Japan — December 4, 2020 — Universal Music Japan — CD — Japanese deluxe