The identity of the woman featured in a voice recording played during The Weeknd’s Coachella set has been revealed.
The “Blinding Lights” singer was a headline act at the California festival on Sunday 17 April.
Ahead of his collaborative performance of “Moth to a Flame” with Swedish House Mafia, The Weeknd – real name Abel Tesfaye – people in the audience were played a short voicemail recording.
“Hey, it’s me. I know it’s been a while but I was just thinking about you and I’m sorry about everything,” a woman was heard saying before the song began.
Some speculated that the voice in the message belonged to his ex-girlfriend, model Bella Hadid, who dated the Canadian musician from 2015 to 2019.
“I’m pretty sure The Weeknd just played a voicemail from Bella Hadid [at Coachella],” one fan watching the livestreamed performance commented, while another called him “heartless” for the addition.
However, social media users have now matched the message to a previously released Weeknd song, and not a personal message from Hadid.
A 2020 remix of his song “Blinding Lights” with Chromatics features the same voice message, which Reddit users attribute to singer Ruth Radelet, a former member of the American electronic band, who broke up in 2021.
The identical message can be heard at the 4:33 mark in the official video above.
