Canadian pop star The Weeknd changed his name on social media to Abel Tesfaye, his birth name, on Monday.
Tesfaye opted to keep his Instagram and Twitter handles as The Weeknd, and made no changes to his Facebook.
It’s not clear why the 33-year-old artist made the switch, but in an interview with W magazine Earlier this month, Tesfaye said he’s «getting ready to close the Weeknd chapter» and reinvent himself as a musician.
«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 keep making music, maybe like Abel.» maybe like The Weeknd. But I still want to kill The Weeknd. And I’ll do it. Eventually. I’m definitely trying to shed that skin and be reborn.»
Tesfaye went on to say that the album he is currently working on could be his «last hurray as The Weeknd».
«This is something I have to do,» he said. «As The Weeknd, I’ve said all I can say.»
Earlier this year, the singer of «Blinding Lights» and «Die for You» was named the most popular artist in the world after analysis of Spotify data. Guinness World Records awarded Tesfaye the title, adding that set two records: Most monthly listeners on Spotify, 111.4 million as of March 20, and first artist to reach 100 million monthly listeners on Spotify.
The record-keeping site credited Tesfaye’s growing streaming figures with the release of the «Die for You» remix featuring Ariana Grande, which went viral on TikTok.
The song was originally released as part of the musician’s Starboy album in 2016.
The only other solo male musician to achieve this record is Michael Jackson, according to Guinness World Records.
Tesfaye and his team did not immediately respond to requests for comment.