Over the course of six full-length albums, The Weeknd has gone from zero to 100 — literally.
The crooner is entering an aged new era with Dawn FM, set to release on January 7. As revealed in a series of album teasers posted to Instagram, the artist is going gray for the next chapter of his musical career.
Thanks to some elaborate special effects makeup, The Weeknd transformed into a geriatric version of himself for the new album cover, announcement video, and tracklist preview.
As unexpected as it is, the transformation is a fairly logical next step in The Weeknd's visual evolution.
After Hours saw the singer adopt "The Character," a persona sporting a range of faux injuries including a broken nose, cut lip, and black eye. As the album aged, he began building on the bloodied look with full-on face bandages à la plastic surgery patients.
Most notably, he attended the American Music Awards with an entirely gauzed-up head, a comment on "the absurd culture of Hollywood celebrity and people manipulating themselves for superficial reasons."
The statement culminated in a music video for "Save Your Tears," which saw him shed the bandages to reveal a dramatically nipped and tucked face.
"We watch The Character’s storyline hit heightened levels of danger and absurdity as his tale goes on," he told Variety. "I suppose you could take that being attractive isn’t important to me but a compelling narrative is."
Clearly, The Weeknd is sticking to his word. Not-so-subtly suggesting that all the surgery in the world won't stop you from aging, he swaps cuts and bandages for wrinkles, salt-and-pepper hair, and under-eye bags.
Obviously, the internet is going wild over the unglamorous look.
"Man its not the weeknd anymore. it's the decade," one Twitter user commented.
"What waiting for the album feels like," reads a top comment on the artist's album cover reveal. "ABEL HONEY ARE YOU SURE THIS IS IT?" another joked.
Some riffed on a viral video of Daniel Craig introducing The Weeknd on SNL, while others wondered whether the star would spend the next year performing as an elderly man.
The look has also raised questions about whether The Weeknd is hinting at upcoming retirement. He looks just about ready to collect his pension — is his Dawn FM era a sign he's ready to call it quits?
