KUALA LUMPUR, June 3 — Canadian superstar The Weeknd has sold out both nights of his upcoming Kuala Lumpur concerts, reinforcing the city’s position as it heads into one of its biggest years yet for international live entertainment events.

This comes as Kuala Lumpur unveiled its Headline Season 2026, a collaboration between the government and industry players including Live Nation Malaysia and PR Worldwide, aimed at attracting over 500,000 music fans, with more than 25 global artists set to perform across multiple venues in the city.

The initiative is part of efforts to position KL as a regional live entertainment hub, with the industry projected to contribute close to RM1.7 billion to the local economy this year.

The Weeknd’s sold-out shows at the TM National Stadium in Bukit Jalil are expected to be among its key catalysts.

Malaysia has already hosted over 400 concerts in 2024 alone, generating more than RM553 million in tourism and economic impact.

The Weeknd’s appeal

The Weeknd, a four-time Grammy winner, will bring his acclaimed After Hours Til Dawn tour to KL on November 4 and 5.

The tour made history last November after selling over 7.5 million tickets and grossing more than US$1 billion (RM4.5 billion), making it the highest-earning tour by a male solo artist in music history.

Ongoing since 2022, the tour has covered North America twice, as well as Europe, the UK, Latin America and Australia.

As it enters its final phase and makes its debut in Asia and Southeast Asia, KL — home to the region’s largest concert venue with a capacity of over 80,000 — is set to host one of its key closing stops.

Tickets for both nights sold out within two weeks.

Projected revenues

Based on ticketing tiers and an estimated 80,000 paid attendees per night, The Weeknd: After Hours Til Dawn is projected to generate around RM51.53 million in gross ticket sales per night.

Over two nights, total ticket sales are expected to reach RM103.6 million.

This would place the concerts among the biggest live music events staged in Malaysia in recent years, surpassing the RM42.3 million generated by Blackpink’s Born Pink concert in 2022 and rivaling Coldplay’s Music of the Spheres concert, which generated RM51.9 million in 2023.

The projection is based on all eight ticketing tiers, with a weighted average ticket price of RM644.15, and assumes roughly 60 per cent of seats fall within Tier 3 and Tier 4 categories.

The estimate covers ticket sales only and does not include merchandise, food and beverage, or sponsorship revenue.

Ending the year on a high note

With The Weeknd alone projected to bring in over RM100 million in ticket sales, Kuala Lumpur — and the TM National Stadium in particular — still has more major acts lined up for later this year.

These include global emo-rock band My Chemical Romance, set to perform on November 19 and 20 in a fully sold-out two-night return after rescheduled dates in April and May.

K-pop group BTS is also expected to perform their WORLD TOUR ‘ARIRANG’ in KL on December 12 and 13. Although presales only begin today, tickets are expected to sell out quickly, following strong demand across previous tour stops.

Other artists scheduled to perform in Malaysia this year include Post Malone, Laufey, Avenged Sevenfold, Evanescence, Simple Plan, EXO and Aaron Kwok.