In a recent interview with W Magazine, The Weeknd—real name Abel Tesfaye—discussed his image and the reasons behind his desire to change his name.
“I’m going through a cathartic path right now,” he told the magazine. “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.”
As he embarks on that route, he has just finished filming the eagerly awaited HBO series “The Idol,” in which he co-stars with Lily-Rose Depp. The actor from Toronto portrays Tedros, a self-help guru and Jocelyn, the love interest of Johnny Depp’s character.
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“My theory is that I forgot how to sing because I was playing Tedros, a character who doesn’t know how to sing. I may be looking too deeply into this, but it was terrifying. As The Weeknd, I’ve never skipped a concert,” he explained. “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.”
With that being said, his voice is back and he’s back in the studio making new music, but it will be The Weeknd’s last.
“The album I’m working on now is probably my last hurrah as The Weeknd,” he revealed. “This is something that I have to do. As The Weeknd, I’ve said everything I can say.”
