The Weeknd has revealed he wrote “beautiful” and “upbeat” songs during his relationship with Selena Gomez – but he said fans will “never” get to hear it.
“I had a whole album written, done,” the singer told Time, which named him one of 10 “Next Generation Leaders” this week, “which wasn’t melancholy at all because it was a different time in my life.”
Instead, The Weeknd released My Dear Melancholy.
“I don’t want to perform something that I don’t feel,” he said of the scrapped album.
The Weeknd didn’t mention Gomez by name and declined to talk about their relationship but he admitted he is single “without a doubt” and that My Dear Melancholy was “therapeutic.”
He added: “You want to get it out. It’s like you close a chapter.”
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The Toronto-born singer spoke to Time about moving from Beverly Hills to the more secluded Calabasas, California – where he shares a home with Dobermans Caesar and Julius – because he always felt “like someone’s watching me.”
He also admitted he’s not a fan of giving interviews and would never do one on live TV. “I think I would puke.”
The Weeknd and Ariana Grande are the only two music stars on the Time list of "Next Generation Leaders." He is the second Canadian artist to be honoured by the magazine this year – last month Shawn Mendes was named one of the year's most influential people.