While the album ultimately was released to rapturous response from critics and fans as planned on March 20 - at the end of a horrifying week when the grim reality of the pandemicвЂ™s magnitude finally struck the United States - that date was by no means a foregone conclusion. ItвЂ™s one of many pivots not just in the rollout of вЂњAfter Hours,вЂќ The WeekndвЂ™s first full-length album in three and a half years, but in an entertainment industry and world that is flailing to come to grips with a new reality. вЂњDue to coronavirus, weвЂ™ll be broadcasting remotely,вЂќ Strong says, then gestures at The Weeknd and adds, вЂњActually, weвЂ™ll be remote, but youвЂ™ll be here in the studio.вЂќ Weeknd looks at the camera with a nervous smile that is intended to display comic timing but instead reflects a nagging collective twinge that maybe this isnвЂ™t such a good thing to kid around about. вЂњI just totally geeked out on Daniel Craig,вЂќ he is heard confessing to a team member afterward. Dozens of people move around the small space, and there are hugs, handshakes and close contact all around, including when Weeknd (real name: Abel Tesfaye) and Craig meet for the first time and exchange several minutes of friendly chat. The iconic Studio 8H at 30 Rock bustles with activity as he prepares to run through his two performances and tape promos for the show with cast member Cecily Strong and host Daniel Craig, whose next James Bond film, вЂњNo Time to Die,вЂќ has just been postponed from an April release date to November due to the rapidly spreading coronavirus pandemic.ДЄpart from a couple of stagehands wearing gloves or surgical masks, thereвЂ™s little indication of the panic thatвЂ™s just days away. On the afternoon of March 5, the artist known as The Weeknd is at a rehearsal for his appearance on what will be the last live episode of вЂњSaturday Night LiveвЂќ for the foreseeable future - although no one realizes it at the time.

The weeknd story of my life song