The Weeknd Premieres New Song, Im a Virgin, on American Dad (Watch)

“I always wanted to play a character that was the opposite of the public’s perception of me — and of course make fun of myself,” The Weeknd told Variety about his guest appearance on Seth MacFarlane’s long-running animated series “American Dad,” which aired Monday, and, it’s safe to say he succeeded on all counts. In the episode — which The Weeknd, a longtime fan of the show, co-wrote — the singer revealed that despite his bawdy public image, he’s actually a virgin, and even sang a song about it.

While the song — which was written specifically for the series with Asa Taccone, who also co-wrote and co-produced Portugal. The Man’s smash “Feel It, Still” and has contributed to his brother Jorma’s group The Lonely Island — isn’t going to give “I Feel It Coming” a run for its money in the Weeknd-classic stakes, it’s distinctively him, with an aching vocal and a characteristic pause and lilt on the chorus.

“I’m a longtime fan of the show,” The Weeknd told Variety. “I’ve been watching since high school but I really appreciated it about seven years ago. It’s been running for so long, and I feel like it has a real cult following. To really enjoy the show in its entirety you have to really know the characters.”

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(Read Variety‘s exclusive cover story on The Weeknd, and our track-by-track interview with him about “After Hours.”)

The Weeknd performed a different self-parody song on “Saturday Night Live” in March, a mock-R&B ballad with Kenan Thompson and Chris Redd called “On the Couch.”

And this wasn’t the only animated incarnation of The Weeknd we’re going to hear in the coming months. “I want to continue to create different Weeknds in alternate universes,” he said. “I told [‘American Dad’ producer-writer Joel Hurwitz] I loved doing voices and wished I could have challenged myself more in that department, so he took me to the ‘Robot Chicken’ studio, where [executive producer-writer] Seth Green was waiting for me. I totally geeked out and he actually let me do multiple voices on an episode coming out soon. The cartoon nerd in me jumped out that day.”

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Martina Birk

Update: 2024-08-26

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