"It's a headspace I've gotta get into that I just don't have any more desire for," Tesfaye explains of his work as The Weeknd.

The 34-year-old music star, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, admits he could soon walk away from his stage name and move on to a new phase of his career. Tesfaye has been performing as The Weeknd since 2010, when he first gained attention through anonymous YouTube uploads.

Like so many other artists these days, Abel Tesfaye has struggled with the extent of his own celebrity. “People get consumed, especially now, by the concept of being famous,” he told Variety in a new interview. “And I’m not good at being famous—I never will be. I’ve always been reserved.”