This past Tuesday, The Weeknd was seen licking a toad in the trippy music video for “Heartless”. Things got similarly strange on Thursday night when the R&B crooner performed his new single live for the first time on the Late Show with Stephen Colbert.
Most of the performance appeared to take place in the backstage area of the Ed Sullivan Theater. The Canadian artist, dressed to resemble the single’s artwork, danced and gyrated his way down winding halls that were flooded with ominous lighting. Think of the ambiance as something like a cross between horror movie and fire drill gone wrong.
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Replay the TV appearance below, and stay tuned for more. The Weeknd is scheduled back on Colbert for a second performance on Friday night. Update: Watch The Weeknd’s Friday night performance of “Blinding Lights”.
The Weeknd also recently shared the single “Blinding Lights”. These two tracks serve as Abel Tesfaye’s first solo music since 2018’s My Dear Melancholy EP. His last proper full-length, Starboy, dropped back in 2016. The musician has a cameo in the Safdie brothers’ upcoming Uncut Gems film, which hits theaters December 13th.