The Weeknd Hints At Changing His Stage Name: ‘I Still Want To Kill The Weeknd’

Abel Tesfaye, who we’ve all come to know as superstar The Weeknd, recently shared that a major change could be on the horizon.

Right now, the four-time Grammy winner is trying out his hand at acting with his new HBO series, The Idol, which premieres on June 4 and has landed him and his co-star, model Lily-Rose Depp, on not one but two covers of W Magazine’s The Pop Issue. In the cover story, the 33-year-old entertainer opened up about his career transition and how part of that involves parting ways with his current stage name. “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,” he said. “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.”

A couple weeks ago, The Weeknd dropped a new single, “Double Fantasy,” with Future, and he’s also in the studio working on new music for his forthcoming LP, which will conclude his After Hours trilogy and could be his final project released under his pseudonym. “The album I’m working on now is probably my last hurrah as The Weeknd. This is something that I have to do,” he explained. “As The Weeknd, I’ve said everything I can say.”

The news shouldn’t come as a shock to real fans though, as this isn’t the first time The Weeknd has hinted at hanging up his stage name. As Blavity previously reported last year, he tweeted to his millions of followers that he may “pull a YE and just legally change my name to ABEL. no last name. Like Madonna or Cher or Prince. I don’t know it seems like a lot.”

Well, critics and fans will just have to wait and see what happens, but if you want to see him show off his acting chops on The Idol (which features music produced and performed by The Weeknd himself), check out the official teaser trailer below.