The Weeknd decided to cut his trademark hairstyle because he was sick of copycat styles cropping up.
The singer, real name Abel Tesfaye, rocked a distinctive hair look when he burst onto the scene with his debut album Kiss Land in 2013. Described by Rolling Stone as the “double mullet: party in the front, party in the back”, The Weeknd’s locks were soon attracting as much attention as his music. Taylor Swift even petted his hair when the pair first met at Sam Smith’s Grammy party in 2015.
The Weeknd once declared he’d never take a pair of scissors to his hair as he didn’t want to look like “everyone else”, but recently backtracked on that claim.
“I said that, but I couldn’t walk around without seeing the f**kin’ Weeknd hair. That’s what I called it,” he smiled to America’s GQ. “New artists, artists that have been around forever—I’m not going to say any names—but they were f**kin’ growing their hair.”
The 26-year-old, who has been snapped enjoying a string of dates with Selena Gomez, went for the chop just before the release of his third album, Starboy, in November (16).
He explains cutting his hair acted as a great stress reliever after working so hard on the record, which soared straight to the top of the U.S. charts.
“I worked really hard on this album. And I felt like I need to relieve a lot of stress. (Cutting off my hair) feels good, ’cause I get to blend in,” he shrugged. “If I want to go to a club, I can just go and I’m not there. I can go to a restaurant and I’m not there. I look like everybody else, which is boring, but maybe I just want to look like everybody else for a bit.”
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