The Weeknd, byname of 

Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, (born February 16,

1990, Toronto, Ontario, Canada), Canadian rhythm-and-blues singer and songwriter
who was perhaps best known for his explicit songs about sex and drugs, many of which
were autobiographical, and for his soaring falsetto and its singular tremolo.

Tesfaye’s mother and grandmother immigrated in the 1980s to Canada from Ethiopia,

and his first language was Amharic. When he was in grade 11, he quit school and left
home, devoting himself to unbridled partying. Tesfaye eventually landed a job at
American Apparel and at the same time began writing songs about drug use, casual sex,
and alienation. He crossed paths with musician and producer Jeremy Rose, and they
started working together. Their collaboration yielded three atmospheric songs—“The
Morning,” “Loft Music,” and “What You Need”—with lyrics that were partly sung and
partly rapped. The songs, credited to The Weeknd, were uploaded as audio files to the
video-sharing Web site YouTube in late 2010; their popularity grew exponentially after
they were posted to the blog of Canadian rapper Drake.

With Drake as an admirer and backer, Tesfaye had greater access to recording
opportunities, and by March 2011 he had put together a nine-song mixtape, House of
Balloons, which he released as a free download. The album gained critical notice and
was short-listed for Canada’s Polaris Music Prize. Tesfaye made his first public
appearance as The Weeknd in a Toronto nightclub in July that year. He released two
more free mixtapes in 2011, Thursday and Echoes of Silence. In addition, he contributed
to the 2011 Drake release Take Care.

The Weeknd partnered with Republic Records in September 2012. Two months later he
released Trilogy, made up of remastered versions of the songs on the three mixtapes; it
became a best seller. However, The Weeknd’s first studio album, Kiss Land (2013),
failed to penetrate beyond his fan base.

The Weeknd
The Weeknd subsequently asked his record company for help in crafting songs. The
outcome was a professional relationship with the hit-making Swedish producer Max
Martin and a duet with pop star Ariana Grande, “Love Me Harder.” The song, released
in 2014, reached the top 10. The Weeknd’s next three hit singles, “Earned It,” “The
Hills,” and “Can’t Feel My Face,” were featured on Beauty Behind the Madness (2015).
In 2016 The Weeknd won Canada’s Juno Award for artist of the year for the second
consecutive year, as well as four other Junos, including album of the year. He also
won Grammy Awards for best R&B performance for “Earned It,” and Beauty Behind the
Madness took the award for best urban contemporary album. In addition, “Earned It,”
which was included on the sound track of the film Fifty Shades of Grey (2015), was
nominated for an Academy Award in 2016.

The Weeknd’s success continued with Starboy (2016).