The Weeknd has vowed to honour collaborator DJ Kavinsky’s legacy following the electronic music pioneer’s passing.
The French musician – whose real name was Vincent Belorgey – was found dead at his home in Paris on July 29, aged 50. The Weeknd, who collaborated with Kavinsky on the 2013 track Odd Look, was among those paying tribute to the synth‑pop legend.
He wrote on X: “So heartbreaking to hear the news. An inspiration to so many, including myself. I will continue to honor your name and your music. Rest easy Kavinsky.”
Back in 2022, Kavinsky teased that he and The Weeknd – whose real name is Abel Tesfaye – were planning to work together again.
He told NME: “I happened to just love his voice when I heard it, so we did our track together back then very easily, very simply. This was way before he became super huge and was really accessible and available.”
On the possibility of them collaborating again, he added: “So something might happen – something might happen very probably.
“It’s happening soon, and he is still such a nice guy.”
Kavinsky became a defining figure of the electro‑new‑wave scene thanks to Nightcall, the moody, synth‑soaked track that opened Ryan Gosling’s 2011 film Drive and went on to become one of the most recognisable electronic songs of the era. The track was a collaborative effort: produced with Daft Punk’s Guy‑Manuel de Homem‑Christo, mixed by French electronic artist SebastiAn, and voiced by Brazilian singer Lovefoxxx.
Kavinsky admitted he was “scared” to make another record after the success of Nightcall, which featured on his 2013 debut studio album OutRun.
He said: “After the sudden success of Nightcall, I didn’t really want to record again at that moment.
“I sensed some pressure; I was scared to imagine what my music was going to be after this success. I took two steps back and started to imagine what I was going to record after that, at my own pace.”
His second studio album, Reborn, didn’t come out until 2022.