The Weeknd has reflected on the “terrifying” moment he lost his voice onstage.
The Canadian singer-songwriter, real name Abel Tesfaye, was singing “Can’t Feel My Face” during a gig staged at SoFi Stadium, Los Angeles, last September when he suddenly stopped the performance and left the stage.
He later returned to announce that he was experiencing vocal issues and would have to cancel the concert.
Recounting the scare during an interview for W magazine, The Weeknd theorized that he lost his voice because he was also filming scenes for the upcoming HBO series “The Idol,” in which he plays self-help guru Tedros, at the same time.
“I had to take off The Weeknd outfit, put on Tedros’s wig, shoot with Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp), then go back to being The Weeknd. It was tough to go from one head to another,” he stated. “Then, after the concert, I lost my voice. No voice came out at all. That’s never happened before. My theory is that I forgot how to sing because I was playing Tedros, a character who doesn’t know how to sing. I may be looking too deeply into this, but it was terrifying. As The Weeknd, I’ve never skipped a concert. I’ve performed with the flu. I’ll die on that stage. But there was something very complicated going on with my mind at that moment.”
Elsewhere in the conversation, The Weeknd referred to claims that production on “The Idol,” the drama series he co-created alongside Reza Fahim and Sam Levinson, had been plagued with problems.
Instead, the star insisted the decision to reshoot and rewrite aspects of the program was the right one.
“It was a challenge to redo ‘The Idol,’ and, in truth, I sacrificed my health and home to make it work. So, let’s say it comes out, and it’s f**king horrible. I still know I did my absolute best,” the 33-year-old continued. “From what I’ve seen, the show is great. Everything is a risk: When you’ve done the best you can, I would call that a happy ending… And I got my voice back.”
“The Idol,” also featuring Troye Sivan, Eli Roth, Hari Nef, and Hank Azaria, is set to premiere via HBO on June 4th.