Abel Makkonen Tesfaye Biography

Canadian singer-songwriter The Weeknd's cautionary tales about the emotional toll taken by casual flings and hedonistic living, which included "Can't Feel My Face," "Love Me Harder" and "The Hills," made him one of the biggest stars on the pop and R&B charts in the late 2010s. Born Abel Tesfaye on February 16, 1990 in Toronto, Canada, he was the only child of immigrants from Ethiopia. A diverse array of musical genres, from funk and soul to rock and hip-hop, informed his decision to drop out of high school at the age of 17 and pursue a career in popular music. The Weeknd initially drew interest in late 2010 for a trio of songs released through YouTube, which earned praise from major media outlets like The New York Times, as well as fellow musicians like Drake. A nine-track mixtape titled House of Balloons was issued for free from The Weeknd's website the following year, which further engendered positive word of mouth, as did high profile performances throughout Canada and collaborations with Drake. Two more mixtapes in 2011 would complete what was called the "Balloons Trilogy," which by 2012 had been downloaded more than 8 million times; The Weeknd spent most of that year expanding his audience through performances across the globe, and signing with Republic Records to issue Trilogy, a compilation album featuring new material and remastered versions of tracks from the mixtapes. It debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200 and reached platinum sales status by the following year. By that point, The Weeknd was ready to issue his debut studio album, Kiss Land, which rose to No. 2 on the strength of brooding songs about narcotized lust and emotional distance like "Belong to the World" and "Live For." Tours with Justin Timberlake and collaborations with Ariana Grande ("Love Me Harder," which appeared on the soundtrack to "Fifty Shades of Grey," 2015) cemented The Weeknd' status as a major figure in the alternative R&B scene. In 2015, his second album, Beauty Behind the Madness, made The Weeknd the first artist to have songs in the top three spots on the Billboard Hot R&B charts, with "Can't Feel My Face" coming in at No. 1. The album, which would reside at the top of the Billboard 200 for three consecutive weeks, became the most streamed album of 2015, with over 60 million listeners. The more electronic-influenced followup Starboy (2016) featured a pair of collaborations with Daft Punk that both reached the Billboard top ten, as well as two other platinum-selling hits, "Party Monster" and "Reminder." After contributing to the soundtrack for the blockbuster "Black Panther" (2018), including the single "Pray for Me," The Weeknd released the EP My Dear Melancholy, which garnered gossip column discussion of which of his high-profile exes the songs were about and included the hit single "Call Out My Name."