The Weeknd is now officially known online by his real name, Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, after updating his social media accounts.
On Monday, the Canadian artist’s Twitter and Instagram accounts had updated to display his birth name rather than his artistic name.
The change is part of a wider plan to “kill The Weeknd,” Tesfaye told W Magazine in an interview published May 8.
“I’m going through a cathartic path right now,” he said.
“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.”
Tesfaye revealed that his upcoming album might well be The Weeknd’s last.
In March, Guinness World Records announced that the singer-songwriter is statistically the most popular musician on the planet.
READ: The Weeknd Declared Most Popular Artist In The World By Guinness World Records
The 33-year-old took two new Guinness World Record titles. He had the most monthly listeners on Spotify, with 111.4 million as of March 20, and also became the first artist to reach 100 million monthly listeners.
