The Weeknd starts scrapping stage name on social media

The Weeknd appears to be making good on his recently expressed desire to transition back to his given name, Abel Tesfaye, after soaring to stardom under his globally known stage moniker.

On Monday, May 15, the Canadian artist behind the smash Blinding Lights updated his screen name on Twitter and Instagram, although the handle on both remained @theweeknd.

The shakeup follows comments in W Magazine in which Tesfaye said he wants "to kill The Weeknd."

"I'm going through a cathartic path right now," he said. "It's getting to a place and a time where I'm getting ready to close the Weeknd chapter," he added.

"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."

He also told the publication the album he's 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."

Tesfaye, 33, is set to star alongside Lily-Rose Depp in the forthcoming HBO series The Idol, set to premiere next month.

The Canadian artist born to Ethiopian parents rose to fame on a brand of dark R&B after gaining a strong following on YouTube more than a decade ago.

He went on to become the first artist to gain more than 100 million monthly listeners on Spotify. (AFP)