The Weeknd changes social media accounts to his birth name

1/5

License Photo”,”object_name”:”SUPER BOWL LV”,”xy”:[800,534],”img_name”:”SUPER-BOWL-LV_1″},{“p”:”https://cdnph.upi.com/svc/sv/upi/5161684174132/2023/2/b1b6bc362e5fbbc4a5a1102cf6082095/The-Weeknd-changes-social-media-accounts-to-his-birth-name.jpg”,”c”:”Selena Gomez and The Weeknd arrive on the red carpet at the Costume Institute Benefit at The Metropolitan Museum of Art celebrating the opening of Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art of the In-Between in New York City in May 2017. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo”,”object_name”:”MET COSTUME BENEFIT”,”xy”:[800,533],”img_name”:”MET-COSTUME-BENEFIT_2″},{“p”:”https://cdnph.upi.com/svc/sv/upi/5161684174132/2023/3/7f99c228d59ca2bad26c38a929a42211/The-Weeknd-changes-social-media-accounts-to-his-birth-name.jpg”,”c”:”The Weeknd, winner of the Best R&B Performance award for “Earned It,” and Best Urban Contemporary Album award for “Beauty Behind The Madness,” appears backstage with his awards at the 58th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles in February 2016. File Photo by Phil McCarten/UPI | License Photo”,”object_name”:”UPI POY 2016″,”xy”:[800,533],”img_name”:”UPI-POY-2016_3″},{“p”:”https://cdnph.upi.com/svc/sv/upi/5161684174132/2023/4/52f6728b47e4c86976447fe781a99ed9/The-Weeknd-changes-social-media-accounts-to-his-birth-name.jpg”,”c”:”A model takes to the catwalk as The Weeknd performs during the Victoria’s Secret’s show at the Grand Palais in Paris in November 2016. File Photo by Maya Vidon-White/UPI | License Photo”,”object_name”:”PARIS VICTORIA’S SECRET”,”xy”:[800,533],”img_name”:”PARIS-VICTORIAS-SECRET_4″},{“p”:”https://cdnph.upi.com/svc/sv/upi/5161684174132/2023/5/224d9c6f894f96caa9067acec66fa6fb/The-Weeknd-changes-social-media-accounts-to-his-birth-name.jpg”,”c”:”The Weeknd arrives in the photo room during the MTV Europe Music Awards in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, in November 2016. File Photo by Sven Hoogerhuis/UPI | License Photo”,”object_name”:”MTV EUROPE AWARDS”,”xy”:[800,530],”img_name”:”MTV-EUROPE-AWARDS_5″}], offset);}]]> The Weeknd performs at Super Bowl LV in Tampa in February 2021. He says he may change back to his birth name for future recordings and has updated selected social media accounts. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

May 15 (UPI) — 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.