The Weeknd Plans To Retire His Stage Name After Next Album
Possibly releasing music as simply ‘Abel Tesfaye.’
The Weeknd may soon go by a different name, at least when it comes to his music. When he began releasing music around 2009, the R&B artist, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, went by stage names such as the Noise and Kin Kane. Around 2011, he adopted the moniker The Weeknd, which was reportedly inspired by when he dropped out of school one weekend and never returned.
In a recent interview with W Magazine, where he appeared alongside The Idol co-star Lily Rose-Depp, the artist shared that after over a decade of putting out music as The Weeknd, he’s just about ready to retire the name.
“I’m going through a cathartic path right now,” he said. “It’s getting to a place and a time where I’m getting ready to close the Weeknd chapter.”
The singer said he still plans to 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,” he continued.
Tesfaye went on to conclude that the album he’s currently working on is most likely his “last hurrah” as The Weeknd.
Exact details about the in-progress LP, the follow-up to last year’s Dawn FM, have yet to be announced. Stay tuned for future updates on the project.
In other music news, Stormzy enlisted Ayra Starr and Tendai for a “Need You” visual.
