ZapGossip

The Weeknd ‘crushed and heartbroken’ by Toronto gig postponement

The Weeknd was left “crushed and heartbroken” after his Toronto show was cancelled due to a major “outage”.

The ‘Take My Breath’ hitmaker was due to play the Rogers Stadium in his home city in Canada on Friday (08.07.22), but an issue with Canada’s main telecommunications company meant it was impossible to put on the concert.

In a social media statement, the 32-year-old singer – whose real name is Abel Tesfaye – wrote: “This one hurts the most, and we will make this show happen, but unfortunately not tonight.

“I’m crushed and heartbroken. Been at the venue all day but it’s out of my hands because of the Rogers outage. Operations and safety are compromised and I tried my absolute best.

He added: “This one hurts the most, and we will make this show happen, but unfortunately not tonight. I know how long you’ve been waiting and how hard a lot of you worked to make it to the show and experience this special moment with me. I can’t wait to see you all.”

A new date is yet to be announced.

The ‘After Hours Til Dawn Tour’ continues in Lincoln, Philadelphia on July 14.

The ‘Blinding Lights’ hitmaker could be heading back to Toronto soon as he’s been nominated for the 2022 Polaris Music Prize.

The Canadian version of the UK’s Mercury Prize “honours and rewards artists who produce Canadian music albums of distinction”.

And The Weeknd is nominated for his fifth studio album, ‘Dawn FM’, which reached number one in more than 10 countries.

Arcade Fire (‘WE’)’, Orville Peck (‘Bronco’), punk rockers PUP (‘THE UNRAVELING OF PUPTHEBAND’) and rock band Destroyer (‘Labyrinthitis’) are also in contention.

The shortlist for the Polaris Music Prize will be announced on July 14, with the overall winner announced at a ceremony in Toronto on September 19.

Earlier this year, The Weeknd became the most listened-to artist on Spotify.

The ‘Gasoline’ singer broke the record previously set by Justin Bieber after amassing 85.66 million monthly listeners on the streaming service, just weeks after releasing ‘Dawn FM’.

Justin’s previous record was set with just under 84 million monthly listeners.

Meanwhile, The Weeknd recently teased ‘Dawn FM’ is part of a trilogy and a third instalment will follow.

He tweeted: “I wonder… did you know you’re experiencing a new trilogy?”