Is The Weeknd Really Ready to Say Goodbye?

For years now, Abel Tesfaye, the enigmatic artist behind The Weeknd, has been hinting at retiring his now-iconic stage name. It started as casual speculation, a fleeting idea whispered in interviews, but it has steadily gained momentum, leaving fans and the industry on edge. Yet, as the release of his ambitious Hurry Up Tomorrow movie and album approach, Tesfaye seems to be backpedaling, leaving the door wide open for The Weeknd’s return.

In a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Tesfaye once again addressed his future under the persona of The Weeknd, suggesting that his plans aren’t set in stone. “It feels like it,” he said when asked about the possibility of ending his career as The Weeknd. “I’ve kind of toyed with the idea in the past with albums. But it could also just be a rebirth. Who knows?”

This statement marks a stark departure from his more definitive comments earlier this year. In January, Tesfaye seemed resolute in his desire to leave The Weeknd behind, speaking candidly about the exhaustion that had set in after years of unprecedented success. “It’s a headspace I’ve gotta get into that I just don’t have any more desire for,” he admitted. “I feel like it comes with so much… You have a persona, but then you have the competition of it all. It becomes this rat race: more accolades, more success, more shows, more albums, more awards and more No. 1s. It never ends until you end it.”

His frustrations were palpable. The Weeknd, for all its acclaim, had become a well-oiled machine—one that, in his eyes, had been perfected. “No one’s gonna do The Weeknd better than me,” Tesfaye asserted at the time. “And I’m not gonna do it better than what it is right now.”

This shift in his perspective raises an interesting question: is The Weeknd truly finished, or is this all part of a larger narrative arc? Throughout his career, Tesfaye has masterfully reinvented himself, shifting from the mysterious, dark figure in his early mixtapes to the pop-crossover juggernaut of After Hours and Dawn FM. If anything, his refusal to let go of The Weeknd feels less like an end and more like the start of another chapter.