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The Weeknd Announced As First Headliner For Fortnite Festival
Fortnite unveiled its first headlining act for the newly introduced Fortnite Festival, featuring The Weeknd.
Set to launch on Saturday (Dec. 9), the Canadian singer released a trailer on Monday (Dec. 4) night. The preview saw various The Weeknd avatars performing his 2022 hit, “Take My Breath.”
Per the press release, “Fortnite Festival is a new music game where players can play in a band with friends or perform solo on stage with hit music by their favorite artists.”
This new venture builds on Fortnite’s history of music integrations. In April, it partnered with Coachella for an online world launch complete with art installations and festival-themed features. Furthermore, the company tapped Eminem for its Big Bang event on Saturday (Dec. 2), which also introduced the rapper as a playable character.
Earlier this week, leaks surfaced revealing that The Weeknd’s virtual appearance could include a new microphone design, two bass designs, and possibly a new song. Check out the teaser clip below.
On the music side, The Weeknd shared Dawn FM in 2022. Standout records include “Gasoline,” “Out of Time,” and “Is There Something Else?” That same year, the artist appeared on the soundtrack for Avatar: The Way of Water.
More recently, the singer contributed to Diddy’s “Another One of Me” alongside 21 Savage and French Montana. It was announced as his final guest feature.
Last Friday (Dec. 1), The Weeknd made headlines for donating $2.5 million to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). The money was used to provide roughly 4 million emergency meals for those in Gaza.
WFP’s director for the Middle East, North Africa, and Eastern Europe, Corinne Fleischer, shared, “This conflict has unleashed a humanitarian catastrophe beyond reckoning. WFP is working round the clock to provide aid in Gaza, but a major scale-up is needed to address the desperate level of hunger we are seeing.”