The Weeknd Teases Kanye West-Inspired Name Change – To John Legend & Mike WiLL Made-It's Approval

The Weeknd is a global superstar at this point of his career, but fans might need to start treasuring his current output even more. During a Twitter spree on Sunday (April 3), the XO crooner revealed he’s toying with changing his name to switch things up a bit.

The Weeknd — whose real name is Abel Tesfaye — let the cat out of the bag after igniting a debate among his Twitter followers about which of his last two albums are better, After Hours and Dawn FM. The Toronto native was clearly amused by some of the responses, leading him to consider legally shortening his name à la Kanye West.

“You guys are hilarious,” he wrote. “I feel like I should change my stage name to ABEL at this point lol. 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.”

you guys are hilarious. i feel like i should change my stage name to ABEL at this point lol.

— The Weeknd (@theweeknd) April 3, 2022

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.

— The Weeknd (@theweeknd) April 3, 2022

The Weeknd continued by pondering, “ABEL formally known as The Weeknd ?”

ABEL formally known as The Weeknd ?

— The Weeknd (@theweeknd) April 3, 2022

The “Blinding Lights” crooner’s suggestion was met with a thumbs up from many fans, including fellow R&B troubadour John Legend and multi-platinum producer Mike WiLL Made-It, who slid into his Twitter replies to express their approval.

“@theweeknd ABEL is dope,” John Legend replied, while Mike WiLL wrote, “@theweeknd I fuck w it.” The Weeknd retweeted Legend’s tweet while revealing he’s “tempted” to go through the name change.

i’m tempted … https://t.co/1aKSsA6Tud

— The Weeknd (@theweeknd) April 3, 2022

I fuck w it

— MADE-IT (@MikeWiLLMadeIt) April 3, 2022

The Weeknd recently tried on a new identity in an episode of The Simpsons, voicing a character named Orion Hughes who owns the fictional skate brand “Slipreme” and creates a new shoe with help from Bart.

The Canadian hitmaker called the cameo a “bucket list” moment, and has ambitions to get more screentime in Springfield. “Let’s make Orion Hughes and Bart’s friendship a re-occurring thing,” he tweeted The Simpsons‘ executive producer Matt Selman last month.