Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, known professionally as The Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and producer whose work has had massive impact on U.S. and global pop culture. He was born on February 16, 1990, in Toronto, Ontario, to Ethiopian immigrant parents and grew up in the Scarborough area, raised mainly by his mother and grandmother after his parents separated.(Wikipedia)
Tesfaye dropped out of high school and spent a period drifting, experimenting with drugs and living with friends, an experience that later shaped his stark, nocturnal lyrical themes. In 2010–2011 he anonymously uploaded songs to YouTube and released the mixtapes House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence, whose murky production and emotionally raw lyrics essentially created a new lane of alternative R&B. The critical buzz around these projects led to collaborations with Drake and a record deal with Republic Records under his XO imprint.(Wikipedia)
His major-label debut Kiss Land (2013) introduced him to a wider audience, but it was Beauty Behind the Madness (2015) that made him a global star, propelled by the U.S. No. 1 singles “Can’t Feel My Face” and “The Hills.” He followed with Starboy (2016), which blended R&B and electronic pop and earned the Grammy for Best Urban Contemporary Album. The single “Starboy” and collaborations with Daft Punk cemented his presence at the center of mainstream pop.(Wikipedia)
In 2020 he released After Hours, featuring “Blinding Lights,” which became one of the biggest hits in Billboard history—spending a record 90 weeks on the Hot 100 and becoming the longest-charting song of all time.(Wikipedia) The era’s neon-drenched visuals, bloody red suit, and elaborate storyline carried through music videos and public performances, climaxing in his 2021 Super Bowl halftime show. He followed with the concept album Dawn FM (2022), framed as a surreal radio broadcast about death and transition.
In interviews and recent work—including the film/album Hurry Up Tomorrow—Tesfaye has discussed panic attacks, the toll of fame, and his desire to retire “The Weeknd” persona to move toward something more grounded and vulnerable under his birth name.(The Guardian) At the same time, he has grown into a major humanitarian, donating over $10 million since 2020 to causes such as COVID-19 relief, Ethiopian famine aid, and, most recently, $350,000 through his XO Humanitarian Fund to support World Food Programme operations in Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa.(People.com)
Across his career, Tesfaye has redefined the sound of pop and R&B, making moody, introspective music commercially dominant while maintaining a strong visual identity and a reputation as one of the era’s most influential artists.