The Weeknd might be on tour right now, but behind the scenes, he’s busy figuring out how to end the era of “The Weeknd” stage name altogether.
The Grammy-winning singer, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, has been vocal about retiring the moniker that made him a global superstar. And while he hasn’t officially dropped it yet, he says the process has already started.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, he admitted, “We’re brainstorming it right now. I feel like we don’t have any definite answers, but I haven’t dropped it yet because I’m on tour, so I’ve still got to get out there and see the fans.”
It’s not just talk, The Weeknd seems pretty serious about evolving past the persona he’s carried for over a decade. He told People that he’s already begun the transition: “Have I started? Yeah, it’s getting there. I mean, I’m on tour right now, so I can’t fully retire it.” It’s clear that once this tour wraps, Abel Tesfaye might finally say goodbye to The Weeknd for good.
But how does it feel to even think about leaving behind a name that’s become synonymous with some of the biggest pop and R&B hits of the past ten years? Well, he’s not revealing everything just yet. When asked if it brings up emotions, he responded, “Oh, I can’t tell you too much.”
Still, the shift makes sense. The Weeknd has always treated fame like a necessary side effect of making music, not the goal. “I’ve always wanted my work to be famous,” he said. “I don’t know if I ever wanted to be famous, so that whole skill set I haven’t really mastered, and I don’t plan to. It’s a weird situation, but here we are.”
That anti-fame mindset isn’t new. The After Hours star has always been more focused on the music than the spotlight. In a recent chat with V Magazine and Jenna Ortega, he reflected on the early days of his career and how staying anonymous gave him time to adjust to the surreal world he was entering. “I’ve been recording since I was about 14 or 15, but I didn’t really blow up until my early 20s,” he said.
Inspired by the anonymity of Daft Punk, he kept his identity hidden at first. “When I put music out, nobody knew what I looked like,” he explained. Back then, he had a day job at American Apparel. “People at my job were playing my music and had no idea that I was standing and working right beside them,” he recalled. “That to me was the validation I needed to quit my job and focus on this 110%.”
He appreciates that early anonymity now more than ever. “My fans didn’t really know what I looked like until maybe three projects in,” he told Jenna. “So I was very calculated because I didn’t want to get thrown in, and I wanted to experience life behind the camera. It was a luxury I was able to carve out for myself.”
Now, as The Weeknd era begins to wind down, Abel Tesfaye is ready to step into a new chapter. That likely includes retiring the stage name with the release of his upcoming film Hurry Up Tomorrow, which could be the final project credited to The Weeknd. But until then, he’s giving fans the full experience on tour while slowly figuring out what’s next.
Whatever that future looks like, one thing’s clear, Abel’s not looking back. And when The Weeknd finally disappears, it’ll be on his own terms.
