The Weeknd publicly debated changing his stage name in a thread of tweets. The performer notably referenced Kanye West’s recent name change as he tweeted, “maybe pull a YE and just legally change my name to ABEL.” The hitmaker then noted that his proposed name would not feature a ‘last name. Like Madonna or Cher or Prince.’
The Weeknd began his series of Tweets by announcing that he was considering a potential name change after talking with his fans. The Blinding Lights singer wrote, “You guys are hilarious. i feel like i should change my stage name to ABEL at this point lol.” The performer did publicly express doubt about his potential decision, writing, “I don’t know it seems like a lot.”
He then added that he could possibly be known as ‘ABEL formally known as The Weeknd’ in the future. The Weeknd also responded to the concerns of his fans regarding the changed name, as he wrote, “Formerly see this is what i’m talking about @Twitter.” Meanwhile, John Legend commented that the name change would be ‘dope,’ and the songwriter replied that he was ‘tempted’ to go through with it.
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However, the artist previously spoke about his stage name during an interview with GQ. He then noted that he drew a line between his public persona and real personality. “The lines were blurry at the beginning. And as my career developed as I developed as a man it’s become very clear that Abel is someone I go home to every night. And The Weeknd is someone I go to work as,” he said.
The performer recently won the Best Melodic Rap Performance at the 64th annual Grammy Awards ceremony, which was held on Sunday. The singer took home the distinction for his work on West’s track Hurricane, which also featured Lil Baby. Despite winning the award, The Weeknd did not attend the ceremony after having publicly boycotted the Recording Academy in 2021.