(KTLA) — For over a decade, The Weeknd has dominated the music scene with catchy singles, a Super Bowl performance, and various collaborations with big names like Kanye West, Future, Beyonce, and Ariana Grande.
Now, the man behind the moody and dark alter ego is ready to rid himself of that persona.
In a piece for W Magazine, The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, is ready to shed that image.
“I’m going through a cathartic path right now,” he told the magazine. “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.”
That path he’s on comes as he’s wrapped up filming the highly anticipated HBO series “The Idol,” in which he stars alongside Lily-Rose Depp. The Toronto native plays the character Tedros, the self-help guru and love interest of Depp’s character Jocelyn.
By playing Tedros in the series while also going on tour as The Weeknd for his After Hours til Dawn Tour, the superstar experienced what he called a “kind of breakdown.”
He basically said this caused him to lose his voice that fateful night in September 2022 at SoFi Stadium. He had to reschedule the show after performing just a few songs.
“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,” he explained. “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.”
With that being said, his voice is back and he’s back in the studio making new music, but it will be The Weeknd’s last.
“The album I’m working on now is probably my last hurrah as The Weeknd,” he revealed. “This is something that I have to do. As The Weeknd, I’ve said everything I can say.”
Tesfaye’s upcoming series comes amid reports of chaos on the set.
“The Idol” debuts on June 4.
