Abel Tesfaye aka The Weeknd has revealed his music plans and one thing that might soon be in the past is his stage name - The Weeknd.
Working on his new and upcoming HBO show The Idol, the artist revealed how he started questioning his pop star life and identity as The Weeknd, which then further lead him to think about retiring The Weeknd.
In an interview with the W magazine, he explained what had happened.
“I had to take off the Weeknd outfit, put on Tedros’s wig, shoot with Jocelyn [Lily-Rose Depp], then go back to being The Weeknd,” he told W.
“It was tough to go from one head to another. 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. 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.”
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 singer has previously hinted that the new album could be the third album completing a trilogy with Dawn FM and After Hours.
“The album I’m working on now is probably my last hurrah as The Weeknd,” Tesfaye said.
This is something that I have to do. As The Weeknd, I’ve said everything I can say.
The Weeknd may be retiring very soon, but hey at least we will still get music from Abel!
The Idol is a series created by Abel Tesfaye, Reza Fahim and Sam Levinson. The HBO series is set to release on June 4, 2023.
