THE WEEKND TO RETIRE
Celebrated singer The Weeknd has announced that he will be retiring as The Weeknd after his next album.
The artist, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, reportedly thought of the name when he dropped out of school one weekend never to return.
He started releasing music in 2009 under stage names like Noise and Kin Kane. In 2011 he started releasing music as The Weeknd and has never looked back.
In a recent interview with W Magazine, the 33-year-old said he’s about ready to retire the name.
“I’m going through a cathartic path right now. It’s getting to a place and a time where I’m ready to close the Weeknd chapter.”
He added that he still plans to make music, “maybe as Abel, maybe as The Weeknd”, although nothing has been set in stone.
“But I still want to kill The Weeknd. And I will. Eventually. I’m definitely trying to shed that skin and be reborn.”
As The Weeknd, Tesfaye has had many an incredibly successful career winning awards like the Oscar for the best song, several Grammy Awards, Juno Awards, Billboard Awards, American Music Awards and even an Emmy for his Superbowl halftime show in 2021.
He even holds five Guinness World Records including one for being the most listened to artist on Spotify with 111,5 million monthly listeners as well as the most streamed track on Spotify. His song Blinding Lights has reached over 3,4 billion streams as of February 2023.
Image credit: Entertainment Tonight