When the world’s on fire—literally—you can count on The Weeknd to step up and bring his wallet. The 34-year-old crooner, who moonlights as Abel Tesfaye when he’s not making us cry in the club, just donated a cool $1 million to help fight the raging infernos scorching Southern California. Talk about turning “Call Out My Name” into “Call Out My Name for Help”!
Abel made it rain (in a good way) through his XO Humanitarian Fund and the World Food Program USA. According to Deadline, the donations went to the LAFD Foundation, GoFundMe’s Wildfire Relief Fund, and the LA Regional Food Bank. Basically, if you’re doing good work in LA, The Weeknd is sliding you a check.
Now, before you ask, yes—he did have to postpone his highly anticipated album Hurry Up Tomorrow, which was supposed to drop January 24. But hey, when you’re out here saving forests, you can take a rain check on a few Spotify streams. The new release date is January 31, so mark your calendars and prepare to cry tears of joy (or sadness, who knows with him?).
And for those of you who were hyped to see him at the Rose Bowl on January 25—sorry, but the show’s off. Abel’s too busy saving the planet to serenade you in Pasadena. But hey, you can’t be mad at a guy who’s putting the “hero” in “humanitarian,” right?
In the words of The Weeknd himself: “I can’t feel my face, but at least I can feel like I’m helping.”
