THREE MINUTES BEFORE THE SHOW

Flip through The Weeknd, one album at a time

The Weeknd is an artist who started out in the anonymity of dark R&B and made pop and cinematic staging his own language.

Expand the 3-minute primer

To start, it’s enough to listen to one signature song and follow the color of the album it belongs to.

Rather than laying out a full record, this page keeps only the throughline worth holding onto before the show.

Six studio albums

  1. Kiss Land album cover — open on Spotify (opens in a new tab) 2013 · Kiss Land
  2. Beauty Behind the Madness album cover — open on Spotify (opens in a new tab) 2015 · Beauty Behind the Madness
  3. Starboy album cover — open on Spotify (opens in a new tab) 2016 · Starboy
  4. After Hours album cover — open on Spotify (opens in a new tab) 2020 · After Hours
  5. Dawn FM album cover — open on Spotify (opens in a new tab) 2022 · Dawn FM
  6. Hurry Up Tomorrow album cover — open on Spotify (opens in a new tab) 2025 · Hurry Up Tomorrow

The 2011 mixtapes, the 2012 Trilogy compilation, and the 2018 My Dear Melancholy, EP are counted separately from these six.

Don't mix up the two Trilogys

The three early mixtapes and the three recent studio albums share a similar name, but they are classified differently.

2011 MIXTAPES

The early trilogy

House of Balloons → Thursday → Echoes of Silence

Three original mixtapes. The 2012 compilation Trilogy bundles them together.

STUDIO ALBUMS

The recent album trilogy

After Hours → Dawn FM → Hurry Up Tomorrow

An official trilogy formed by three consecutive studio albums.

A light timeline, deeper when you want it

  1. 2011

    2011 · Three Records Out of Anonymity

    House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence are three original mixtapes released in succession the same year.

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    The order is House of Balloons, Thursday, Echoes of Silence. These three are the starting point of the early world.

    2012’s Trilogy is a compilation that repackages these mixtapes — it is not a single studio album.

  2. 2013

    2013 · Kiss Land

    Kiss Land is the first studio album, released in 2013, and the starting point of the six studio albums.

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    The official announcement introduces Kiss Land as a full-length album. This guide counts it as the first studio album.

    This is the era that carries the texture of the early mixtapes into a wider-scale urban landscape.

  3. 2015

    2015 · Beauty Behind the Madness

    Beauty Behind the Madness is the second studio album, released in 2015, and the turning point where it met a wider pop audience.

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    Official label material describes 2015’s Beauty Behind the Madness as the preceding studio album, and 2016’s Starboy as the fourth full-length.

    Before the show, it’s enough to get a sense that familiar melodies and the darker early texture carry through together.

  4. 2016

    2016 · Starboy

    Starboy is the third studio album, released in 2016, an era that pushed vivid hooks and electronic texture far forward.

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    The label’s “fourth full-length” designation is a marketing number that includes the earlier full-length/compilation convention. This guide follows the six-studio-album classification, so it counts this as the third studio album, after Kiss Land and Beauty Behind the Madness.

    Live, this is a stretch worth enjoying for the big sing-alongs and the contrast of light.

  5. 2018

    2018 · My Dear Melancholy,

    My Dear Melancholy, is a 2018 EP that this guide does not count in the studio album numbering.

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    This short work is classified as an EP that sits between the flow of the six studio albums.

    So the next studio album, After Hours, becomes the fourth studio album.

  6. 2020

    2020 · After Hours

    After Hours is the fourth studio album, released in 2020, and the first chapter of the recent album trilogy.

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    Official release material presents After Hours as a 2020 album, and later material calls it the starting point of the recent trilogy.

    This is the chapter that pushes nighttime pleasure, isolation, and regret through cinematic characters and color.

  7. 2022

    2022 · Dawn FM

    Dawn FM is the fifth studio album, released in 2022, and the second chapter of the recent album trilogy.

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    Official release material introduces Dawn FM as a 2022 album, and the Hurry Up Tomorrow announcement specifies it as the second work of the trilogy.

    It can be heard as a transitional stretch that flows like a fictional radio broadcast, retracing regret and obsession.

  8. 2025

    2025 · Hurry Up Tomorrow

    Hurry Up Tomorrow is the sixth studio album, released in 2025, and the final chapter of the trilogy connecting After Hours and Dawn FM.

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    Universal Music Canada announced this work as the final studio album of the trilogy following After Hours and Dawn FM.

    It’s worth listening to as the chapter that closes out toward fame, persona, fear, and self-confrontation.

One Page of Terms

XO is the name of the business partner that Republic Records credits alongside The Weeknd, and Abel 'The Weeknd' Tesfaye refers to the same person.

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XO: Republic Records introduces XO as the business partner credited alongside The Weeknd.

Abel / The Weeknd: Official material credits him together as Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye.

Music You Watch

This music is best enjoyed by connecting the lighting and characters across the albums, short films, and performances.

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Official release and tour material shows how the albums, visuals, and live staging move together.

At the show, rather than looking for a definitive narrative answer, try following the transitions between color, costume, screen, and song.