The Weeknd Announces He Doesn't Want To Be The Weeknd Anymore

Getty Images

It's time for a change, according to The Weeknd. He wants to stop being The Weeknd.

The singer behind "Blinding Lights," whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, recently opened up in an interview with W Magazine for their Pop Issue on why he thinks it's time to drop his stage identity.

"I'm going through a cathartic path right now. It's getting to a place and a time where I'm getting ready to close The Weeknd chapter. I'll still make music, maybe as Abel, maybe as The Weeknd. But I still want to kill the Weeknd. And I will. Eventually. I'm definitely trying to shed that skin and be reborn," the 33-year-old revealed.

Getty Images

Tesfaye, who co-stars with Lily Rose Depp in HBO's upcoming drama series The Idol, didn't go into detail, but he did say that he believed his upcoming album would be his last under the name, adding: "The album I'm working on now is probably my last hurrah as The Weeknd… This is something that I have to do. As the Weeknd, I've said everything I can say."

The Weeknd has thought about altering his name in the past. In fact, before the debut of his music video for "Out of Time" last year, he tweeted to his followers the following: "You guys are hilarious. I feel like I should change my stage name to ABEL at this point lol."

Then, in a different tweet, he added: "Maybe pull a YE and just legally change my name to ABEL. no last name. Like Madonna or Cher or Prince. I don't know it seems like a lot."

If he decides to use the name, Abel, he'll join a host of other famous people who have done the same.

These people include Thandiwe Newton, whose stage name Thandie Newton was actually a misspelling, Blac Chyna, who returned to using her birth name Angela White, and rapper Lil Xan, who went back to using his legal name Diego.

The Weeknd has already said that his upcoming album is one of a trilogy, so we're waiting to see what he decides.

It is not yet known if this includes his albums After Hours from 2020 and Dawn FM from 2022.

The Weeknd has been releasing music under his stage name since his House of Balloons days in the early 2010s, though he is now expanding into his "new creative muscle" of film and television projects.

He admitted to W that it was difficult to strike a balance between his character on the new show and his stage persona.

Getty Images

"I had to take off the Weeknd outfit, put on Tedros's wig, shoot with [Depp's character] Jocelyn, then go back to being The Weeknd...Then, after the concert, I lost my voice. No voice came out at all. That's never happened before."

"My theory is that I forgot how to sing because I was playing Tedros, a character who doesn't know how to sing," he continued. "I may be looking too deeply into this, but it was terrifying. As The Weeknd, I've never skipped a concert. I've performed with the flu. I'll die on that stage. But there was something very complicated going on with my mind at that moment."