The Weeknd on why he wants to retire the moniker: “I’ve overcome every challenge as this persona”

nme.com:

The Weeknd has said he wants to retire his moniker after overcoming “every challenge as this persona”.The artist, real name Abel Tesfaye, has been releasing music as The Weeknd since 2011, and is currently gearing up to release his sixth studio album under the moniker ‘Hurry Up Tomorrow’, which comes out on January 24 2025.

The record will be the final instalment in his ‘Blinding Lights’ album trilogy, following 2020’s ‘After Hours‘ and ‘Dawn FM‘.Now, however, he’s shared that he wants to retire the persona following the record’s release later this month.In a new interview with Variety, Tesfaye explained the social media teasers for his upcoming album which read “The Weeknd / The End Is Near / 8 beautiful chapters in this story.” When asked which chapter he is referring to, Tesfaye responded: “I would say my existence as the Weeknd.”“It’s a headspace I’ve gotta get into that I just don’t have any more desire for,” he continued. “I feel like it comes with so much.

You have a persona, but then you have the competition of it all. It becomes this rat race: more accolades, more success, more shows, more albums, more awards and more Number Ones.

It never ends until you end it.”He went on to reference his 2022 performance at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, where he abruptly cancelled the show halfway through, having lost his voice in the middle of a performance of ‘Can’t Feel My Face’.“Part of me actually was thinking, ‘You lost your voice because it’s done; you said what you had to say.