The Weeknd's promotional scheduled leading up to the release of Starboy has the Canadian crooner busy with all kinds of press ventures. His latest interview comes courtesy of The Wall Street Journal, where the 26-year-old hitmaker revealed that he had scheduled a session in the studio with Prince before his untimely death.
While he was set to work with the Purple Wonder at his Paisley Park Studio before the icon's death in April, The Weeknd found a way to nod to his would have been collaborator. During the profile, Abel Tesfaye told the outlet that his forthcoming LP was "a thousand percent" inspired by the deaths of Prince as well as David Bowie. "I just love Bowie, I think he’s the ultimate inventor," he admitted. In fact, his title alludes to Bowie's 1972 classic "Starman."
It's worth noting that Prince made his last TV appearance in November 2015 when he presented The Weekend with an American Music Award for Best Soul/R&B Album. Months later, Abel would go on to tearfully dedicate his Hot 100 Artist award to the icon at the 2016 Billboard Music Awards.
Elsewhere in the interview, The Weeknd spoke about cutting off his signature dreadlocks because it was becoming a thing of his. "It was a long time coming," he confessed. "It didn’t feel right anymore, because it ended up becoming a trademark. I told everybody I was getting rid of it, and everybody — literally, unanimously — they were like, 'No, don't do it! That’s your whole thing, that’s you.' And the way they said that, I was like, ‘Oh, I’m definitely cutting it now.'"
Original article by James Dinh at iHeartRadio