Abel Tesfaye Wants to "Kill The Weeknd" Name Change, Explained

The Weeknd has been topping charts for years, but now he's going by means of a unique name. Why the switch? Let's unpack the change in his moniker.

It goes with out announcing that The Weeknd is considered one of the most a success crossover artists of a era. His impressive discography spans pop, rap, R&B, digital music, and extra. Now, the singer, born Abel Tesfaye, is looking to transfer into yet some other new era of his career. Only this time, he's taking a look to shed the name The Weeknd for good.

Indeed, it appears as regardless that the artist will no longer be freeing tune as The Weeknd, however why? What will his new name be? Keep studying for all of the main points.

Why did The Weeknd change his name?

In a May 2023 interview for W Magazine along his The Idol co-star Lily-Rose Depp, The Weeknd explained that he's looking to "kill The Weeknd" and reinvent himself as Abel Tesfaye.

"I’m going through a cathartic path right now," he advised the newsletter. "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 star also famous that his next album will be his "last hurrah as The Weeknd."

"This is something that I have to do," he added. "As The Weeknd, I’ve said everything I can say."

Neither The Weeknd nor his team have elaborated to any extent further on the details of his name exchange.

Fans react to the news that The Weeknd wants to go by means of 'Abel Tesfaye.'

Naturally, an artist with as much famous person power as The Weeknd changing his name is sure to shake up the song conversation. In the time because it used to be announced that The Weeknd would eventually be not more, users online shared their very own takes on the state of affairs and what it manner to them.

Where did the name The Weeknd at the start come from?

Per a Reddit AMA from 2014, The Weeknd created his stage name as a result of he hated his start name and idea The Weeknd can be a groovy alternate. He at first sought after to be referred to as The Weekend but took out the "e" as a result of the Canadian band The Weekend already exists. The Weeknd revealed all the ones years in the past that, "I hated my name at the time though so I tried it as a stage name. It sounded cool. I took out the 'e' because there was already a Canadian band named the weekend (copyright issues)."

The Weeknd also discussed his origins as an artist, sharing that he left house after dropping by the wayside of highschool in order to pursue his music occupation. He said, "I left home when I was about 17 dropped out of high school and convinced Lamar to do the same lol. We grabbed our mattresses from our parents threw it in our friends s--tty van and left one weekend and never came back home. It was gonna be the title of HOB ['House of Balloons']."

This Reddit AMA is most certainly certainly one of the maximum personal moments The Weeknd has ever had with enthusiasts. However, he did also give a 2020 interview with Variety the place he touched on his evolution a bit extra. "You could hear the vulnerability in the music before, but there was such a shield, such a f--k you to the world, and now I’m very comfortable with letting the world know that I can be that way," he mentioned of how issues have modified for him sonically over the years.

The Weeknd additionally discussed his upbringing all the way through that chat. "Ethiopian — Amharic — was the first language I learned to form sentences in because my grandma, who raised me with my mom, would not speak English. Because of television and being in Canada, I learned English too, but I went to French-immersion school, where you’d get in trouble for speaking English, and I couldn’t speak it to my grandma, so it’s almost like English is my third language, even though now it’s my first," he shared.

The singer even dove deeply into what led him to drop out of school and pursue music. He mentioned, "It was tough growing up where I was from. I got into a lot of trouble, got kicked out of school, moved to different schools and finally dropped out. I really thought film was gonna be my way out, but I couldn’t really make a movie to feel better, you know? Music was very direct therapy; it was immediate and people liked it. It definitely saved my life."

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