The Weeknd has said that he wants to go back to using his "real" name, the one he was born with.
The 33-year-old Canadian native has changed his name back to Abel Makkonnen Tesfaye on his social media accounts. The name reflects his Ethiopian heritage. The Starboy singer says that he now want to "kill" the Weeknd.
"I'm going through a cathartic path right now," he told W Magazine for a cover story earlier this month. "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."
The change was most notable on Twitter, where Abel Tesfaye replaces The Weeknd as his user name. On Instagram, he's still The Weeknd, though his birth name is just below it. On Facebook, he has not adjusted anything. Yet.
This comes after the Guinness Book of World Records officially confirmed him as the most popular artist in the world. In March, the record-granting entity made the decision based on data compiled by the streaming music app Spotify. The Weeknd has the most monthly listeners on Spotify with 111.4 million and is also the first with 100 million monthly listeners on the app.
Guinness says the only other solo artist to receive the distinction of being the world's most popular artist is Michael Jackson.