Hunt for the alter ego. The Weeknd, best known for being the singer of "Blinding Lights", wants to change his stage name and reclaim his real identity. His Twitter and Instagram accounts now bear his real name: Abel Tesfaye. It has 17 and 55.6 million subscribers respectively.
"Killing The Weeknd"
This evolution owes nothing to chance, explained the 33-year-old artist, born in Canada to Ethiopian parents, in a recent interview with fashion magazine W, where he speaks of "a cathartic experience" and foreshadows its metamorphosis.
"I'm coming to a point where I'm preparing to close the Weeknd chapter. I will continue to make music, maybe as Abel, maybe as The Weeknd. But I still want to kill The Weeknd. And I will. Eventually. I'm really trying to get rid of that skin and be reborn. »
A role in the new series "The Idol"
However, he says he will use his stage name one last time for his next album, which he is currently working on. "As The Weeknd, I said everything I could say." One last time, therefore, as a tribute to a name under which he has established himself as one of the greats of the music of the 2010s and 2020s, between pop and dark R&B.
The announcement of his name change comes as the Cannes Film Festival opens, where he will present a highly anticipated HBO series, "The Idol". He played one of the leading roles, alongside Lily-Rose Depp. The series, produced and written by the singer, with Sam Levinson ("Euphoria"), tells the story of a pop diva who crosses paths with the guru of a cult after a nervous breakdown.