Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, known professionally as The Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and record producer.
In late 2010, Tesfaye anonymously uploaded several songs to YouTube under the name "The Weeknd".
He was born on February 16, 1990 (age 26) in Scarborough, Toronto, Canada.
He has won two Grammy Awards for Best R&B Performance and more
Events and has gone for multiple shows and has multiple albums
Albums
Beauty Behind the Madness
2015
Trilogy
2012
House of Balloons
2011
Starboy
2016
Thursday
2011
Kiss Land
2013
Echoes of Silence
2011
He has won two Grammy Awards for Best R&B Performance and more
Events and has gone for multiple shows and has multiple albums
Albums
Beauty Behind the Madness
2015
Trilogy
2012
House of Balloons
2011
Starboy
2016
Thursday
2011
Kiss Land
2013
Echoes of Silence
2011
Early life
Abel Makkonen Tesfaye is the only child of Makkonen and Samra Tesfaye, who were Ethiopian migrants to Canada in the 1980s. He was raised in Scarborough, a diversely multicultural neighborhood within the city. During his youth, his mother would work several jobs to supplement the family, often as a nurse and caterer , while also attending night school.
Abel Makkonen Tesfaye is the only child of Makkonen and Samra Tesfaye, who were Ethiopian migrants to Canada in the 1980s. He was raised in Scarborough, a diversely multicultural neighborhood within the city. During his youth, his mother would work several jobs to supplement the family, often as a nurse and caterer , while also attending night school.
His father later abandoned the family, prompting his maternal grandmother to care for him while he was young. This allowed for him to become fluent in Amharic, with the Semitic language acting as his first language . She would also take him to services at an Ethiopian Orthodox church.
He started smoking marijuana at age 11, and later moved on to hard drugs. He has credited devising his stage name following dropping out of high school in 2007, adopting the name "The Weeknd" after he and a friend "left [school] one weekend and never came home". The spelling was modified to avoid trademark issues with the Canadian band The Weekend , although producer Jeremy Rose claims the name was his idea.
Career
Career beginnings and mixtapes
The Weeknd at the OVO Festival in 2011.
Tesfaye met producer Jeremy Rose, who had an idea for a dark R&B musical project called "The Weeknd". After trying to pitch the idea to musician Curtis Santiago, Rose played one of his instrumentals for Tesfaye, who freestyled over it, and they began working on an album. He produced three songs – "What You Need", "Loft Music", and "The Morning" – and others that Tesfaye rapped on, which Rose ultimately scrapped. Rose let Tesfaye keep the tracks he had produced under the condition that he would ultimately be credited for them. However, in December 2010, Tesfaye uploaded "What You Need", "Loft Music", and "The Morning" to
YouTube under the name "The Weeknd", though his identity was initially unknown. The songs drew attention online through word of mouth , including a blog featuring the songs posted by rapper Drake, who also helped generate interest in The Weeknd. They subsequently received coverage from outlets such as Pitchfork Media and The New York Times .
On 21 March 2011, Tesfaye released the nine-track mixtape House of Balloons for free through his website.It featured production by Illangelo and Doc McKinney, although it did not credit Rose for his tracks. House of Balloons was met with critical acclaim, and was named as one of ten shortlisted nominees for the 2011 Polaris Music Prize .
In July, Tesfaye embarked on a tour and delivered his first performance at the Mod Club in Toronto. The hour-and-a-half long performance created buzz about him. His next performance took place at Toronto’s
Molson Canadian Amphitheatre . He collaborated extensively with rapper Drake lending his vocals to several standout tracks on Drake's multi-platinum Take Care album and appeared as one of the special guests to Drake's second Annual OVO Fest on 31 July 2011.During the summer, the press noted that The Weeknd refused to participate in interviews and chose to only communicate via Twitter. His second mixtape Thursday was released on 18 August 2011, as a free digital download from The Weeknd's website, and was well received by critics. The Weeknd's third mixtape, titled
Echoes of Silence, was released on 21 December 2011. Upon this release, the three 2011 mixtapes were collectively known as the
Balloons Trilogy , each receiving critical acclaim and growing Tesfaye's fanbase.
Career beginnings and mixtapes
The Weeknd at the OVO Festival in 2011.
Tesfaye met producer Jeremy Rose, who had an idea for a dark R&B musical project called "The Weeknd". After trying to pitch the idea to musician Curtis Santiago, Rose played one of his instrumentals for Tesfaye, who freestyled over it, and they began working on an album. He produced three songs – "What You Need", "Loft Music", and "The Morning" – and others that Tesfaye rapped on, which Rose ultimately scrapped. Rose let Tesfaye keep the tracks he had produced under the condition that he would ultimately be credited for them. However, in December 2010, Tesfaye uploaded "What You Need", "Loft Music", and "The Morning" to
YouTube under the name "The Weeknd", though his identity was initially unknown. The songs drew attention online through word of mouth , including a blog featuring the songs posted by rapper Drake, who also helped generate interest in The Weeknd. They subsequently received coverage from outlets such as Pitchfork Media and The New York Times .
On 21 March 2011, Tesfaye released the nine-track mixtape House of Balloons for free through his website.It featured production by Illangelo and Doc McKinney, although it did not credit Rose for his tracks. House of Balloons was met with critical acclaim, and was named as one of ten shortlisted nominees for the 2011 Polaris Music Prize .
In July, Tesfaye embarked on a tour and delivered his first performance at the Mod Club in Toronto. The hour-and-a-half long performance created buzz about him. His next performance took place at Toronto’s
Molson Canadian Amphitheatre . He collaborated extensively with rapper Drake lending his vocals to several standout tracks on Drake's multi-platinum Take Care album and appeared as one of the special guests to Drake's second Annual OVO Fest on 31 July 2011.During the summer, the press noted that The Weeknd refused to participate in interviews and chose to only communicate via Twitter. His second mixtape Thursday was released on 18 August 2011, as a free digital download from The Weeknd's website, and was well received by critics. The Weeknd's third mixtape, titled
Echoes of Silence, was released on 21 December 2011. Upon this release, the three 2011 mixtapes were collectively known as the
Balloons Trilogy , each receiving critical acclaim and growing Tesfaye's fanbase.
Personal life
Tesfaye began dating Bella Hadid at the beginning of 2015; the couple were first seen together in April at Coachella.Hadid has starred in his music video "In the Night" in December 2015. They also made their red carpet appearance as a couple at the 2016 Grammys in February. On 11 November 2016, it was reported that the couple had split; citing that although the two are still in love, their schedules conflicted too much.
His hairstyle—which was partly inspired by Jean-Michel Basquiat—was by far his most recognizable trait. "There's not much to maintaining it," he said — just a hard shampoo every once in a while. He began growing it out around 2011: "I want to be remembered as iconic and different," he said. "So I was like, 'Fuck it — I'm gonna let my hair just be what it wants.' I'll probably cut it if it starts interfering with my sight. I can kind of see it right now. But if I cut it, I'd look like everyone else. And that's just so boring to me." In 2016, he cut his hair, which was visually illustrated in the music video of the first single ; the title track off of his third album, Starboy.
On social media outlets such as Twitter, he suffixed his name with "xo". According to Hoby, it is meant as an emoticon for " a kiss and a hug ", while VH1 's Zara Golden, The Torch, and GQ have said that it is instead a reference to his recreational use of ecstasy and
oxycodone .
He is a fan of the HBO hit series Game of Thrones . In the context of media outlets reporting cases of police brutality, in 2016 he tweeted "blue lives murder".
Tesfaye began dating Bella Hadid at the beginning of 2015; the couple were first seen together in April at Coachella.Hadid has starred in his music video "In the Night" in December 2015. They also made their red carpet appearance as a couple at the 2016 Grammys in February. On 11 November 2016, it was reported that the couple had split; citing that although the two are still in love, their schedules conflicted too much.
His hairstyle—which was partly inspired by Jean-Michel Basquiat—was by far his most recognizable trait. "There's not much to maintaining it," he said — just a hard shampoo every once in a while. He began growing it out around 2011: "I want to be remembered as iconic and different," he said. "So I was like, 'Fuck it — I'm gonna let my hair just be what it wants.' I'll probably cut it if it starts interfering with my sight. I can kind of see it right now. But if I cut it, I'd look like everyone else. And that's just so boring to me." In 2016, he cut his hair, which was visually illustrated in the music video of the first single ; the title track off of his third album, Starboy.
On social media outlets such as Twitter, he suffixed his name with "xo". According to Hoby, it is meant as an emoticon for " a kiss and a hug ", while VH1 's Zara Golden, The Torch, and GQ have said that it is instead a reference to his recreational use of ecstasy and
oxycodone .
He is a fan of the HBO hit series Game of Thrones . In the context of media outlets reporting cases of police brutality, in 2016 he tweeted "blue lives murder".
In January 2015, Tesfaye was arrested for punching a Las Vegas police officer. He pleaded no contest, and was sentenced to 50 hours of community service.
Philanthropy
Being presented the Bikila Award for Professional Excellence Award in 2014, he decided to donate $50,000 towards a class at the University of Toronto on the Ge' ez, the classic language of Ethiopia. In 2015, he collaborated with Ryan Seacrest's foundation to visit Children's Hospital in Atlanta.In 2016 he donated $250,000 to Black Lives Matter
Philanthropy
Being presented the Bikila Award for Professional Excellence Award in 2014, he decided to donate $50,000 towards a class at the University of Toronto on the Ge' ez, the classic language of Ethiopia. In 2015, he collaborated with Ryan Seacrest's foundation to visit Children's Hospital in Atlanta.In 2016 he donated $250,000 to Black Lives Matter
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