The Weeknd had 40,000 fans cheering at his hometown show — not just for his “After Hours Til Dawn” tour, but for his plea to bring back a familiar name.
During a sold-out É«É«À² show at the Rogers Centre, the Scarborough-born artist Abel Tesfaye, a.k.a. The Weeknd, paused to reflect on the venue’s original name and floated an idea the crowd quickly got behind. Tesfaye played two of four scheduled shows at the stadium, Sunday and Monday, with the final two slated for next week.Ìý
“Can we start a petition?” he asked fans. “Is there any way to call this place the SkyDome again?”
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Opened in 1989, the SkyDome’s name was chosen two years earlier through a public competition that received over 150,000 entries. In 2004, the stadium was bought by Rogers Communications Inc. for $25 million and it was officially renamed the Rogers Centre the next year.Ìý
“We gotta call Mr. Rogers or whatever, whoever owns this place, and we gotta call this b—-h the SkyDome again,” The Weeknd said.
Turns out, Tesfaye isn’t the only person who feels this way as fans screamed in agreement.
Gesturing to the packed stadium, he added, “That’s 40,000 signatures right now.”
Tesfaye returns to the Rogers Centre on Aug. 7 and 8, concluding the É«É«À² leg of his 2025 stadium tour.Ìý
Allie MoustakisÌýis a staff reporter, working out of the Star’s
radio room in É«É«À².ÌýReach her via email: amoustakis@thestar.ca
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