The Weeknd rebrands himself as Abel Tesfaye on social media ahead of The Idol’s premiere after vowing to ‘kill’ persona

The Weeknd is now going by Abel Tefaye on social media (Picture: Getty)

The Weeknd recently teased that his era under his music-making moniker may be coming to a close – and it seemed he wasn’t toying with us.

The chart-topping singer has changed his username on his social media pages to reflect his real name, Abel Tesfaye.

Tesfaye, 33, now presents simply as Abel Tesfaye on social media, although his handles remain @theweeknd on Twitter and Instagram.

He began making music as The Weeknd back in 2009, releasing hits such as Starboy, The Hills, and Save Your Tears.

The Canadian singer is among the world’s best-selling music artists, with numerous accolades to his name including four Grammy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, and an Academy Award nomination.

Soon to release and star in his debut TV series The Idol next month, alongside Lily-Rose Depp, after its premiere at Cannes Film Festival, it seems the mutli-talented creative has been giving this name-changing move thought for a while.

For almost 15 years, he has beem known as The Weeknd with his music making (Picture: Twitter)

Tesfaye has spken about wanting to ‘kill’ off the persona after his current album (Picture: Getty)

In a reent interview he even went as far to discuss how the album he’s currently owrking on could be the last one he ever releases as The Weeknd.

‘The album I’m working on now is probably my last hurrah as The Weeknd. This is something that I have to do. As The Weeknd, I’ve said everything I can say,’ he told W Magazine.

He added that he may still make music ‘as Abel, or maybe The Weeknd,’ but he still wants to ‘kill’ the persona.

‘And I will. Eventually. I’m definitely trying to shed that skin and be reborn,’ he continued.

He is also moving into TV with debut series The Idol releasing next month (Picture: Getty)

As far back as April 2022, he publicly teased changing his name, following Kanye West’s decision to legally change his name to simply Ye.

Chatting with his Twitter followers at the time, the Blinding Lights singer joked: ‘you guys are hilarious. i feel like i should change my stage name to ABEL at this point lol.’

He added: ‘maybe pull a YE and just legally change my name to ABEL. no last name. Like Madonna or Cher or Prince. I don’t know it seems like a lot.’

‘ABEL formally [sic] known as The Weeknd ?’ he then mused.

Fellow musical star John Legend then replied to share that ‘ABEL is dope’, to which the 33-year-old replied via quote tweet: ‘I’m tempted …’

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In The Idol, Depp takes on the lead role of Jocelyn, an aspiring pop star who endeavours to save her career after suffering a breakdown by striking up a relationship with a cult leader, played by Tesfaye.

Tesfaye has also produced the soundtrack for the raunchy series, which he created with Reza Fahim and Sam Levinson.

The Idol premieres on HBO for US viewers and Sky for UK viewers on Sunday, June 4.

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He previously discussed his ‘last hurrah’ as The Weeknd.