The Weeknd is a popular Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor. Moreover, The Weeknd is known for his distinctive singing voice with a soaring falsetto and its singular tremolo. ‘Can’t Feel My Face,’ ‘The Hills,’ ‘Starboy’ and ‘Heartless’ are some of his hit songs.
Early Life
Born as Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, professionally known by the name The Weeknd. This singer was born on the 16th of February 1990 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Moreover, the singer is 32 years old and holds Canadian nationality.
In addition, he has a birth sign of Aquarius and follows the Ethiopian Orthodox religion. Similarly, he belongs to the Ethiopian ethnicity. He is the son of Makkonen Tesfaye (father) and Samra Tesfaye (mother). In the 1980s, his parents moved from Ethiopia to Canada.
Moreover, this singer is the only child of his parents. When he was just one or two years old, his father left the family. Afterward, he was raised by his mother and maternal grandmother.
His mother used to work as a nurse and caterer to support the family, attending night school at the same time. His first language is Amharic, his grandmother reached him the language.
Caption; The Weeknd childhood photo (Source: Instagram)
Education
Talking about his academic career, he attended two schools, West Hill Collegiate Institute and Birchmount Park Collegiate Institute. Similarly, he became fluent in French from the French immersion class he attended till eighth grade.
However, he was kicked out of one and dropped out of the other after six months. Afterward, he left the home and began to live with two of his friends in a one-bedroom house at 65 Spencer Avenue.
Professional Career
Relating to his professional career, The Weeknd started anonymously releasing music on YouTube in August 2009. The following year, he met producer Jeremy Rose, a producer who had an idea for a dark contemporary R&B project.
Soon they two started working on an R&B album named “The Weekend.” Three songs created by The Weeknd; “What You Need,” “Loft Music,” and “The Morning,” were not used by Rose.
The singer created a YouTube channel name “The Weeknd” in 2010 and uploaded the three songs. These songs earned popularity quickly and also were mentioned in a blog post featuring songs by American rapper Drake.
On the 21st of March 2011, he released his debut mixtape, “House of Balloons.” This mixtape contained nine tracks, including the songs he created for Rose. And, it also was selected as a nominee for the 2011 Polaris Music Prize.
After a few months, he began to perform live and started collaborative work with Drake as a vocalist. Later, he released another mixtape named “Thursday”, containing nine tracks.
Afterward, he released his third mixtape “Echoes of Silence” which was released on the 21st of December 2011. It includes nine songs and completed the ‘Balloons Trilogy.’ With the success of three mixtapes, he rose to fame within a year.
He along with his band began to perform at various festivals throughout US and Europe in April 2012. Beginning with the Coachella Festival in California, he went on to perform at Primavera Sound Festivals in Spain and Portugal and Wireless Festival in London.
Later on, he inked a deal with Republic Records in September 2012, and, in a joint venture with his own imprint XO, released a compilation album titled “Trilogy” the next month. He released his first studio album “Kiss Land” on the 16th of May 2013. It earned positive reviews from critics.
Other albums and singles
Afterward, the album was later promoted by the singles “Belong to the World” and “Live For” featuring Drake, as well as with his heading out on The Fall tour a week before the album’s release.
For the 2013 Hollywood movie, ‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ he provided the soundtrack. Later, he accompanied Justin Timberlake on his “The 20/20 Experience World Tour.”
Similarly, he collaborated with Ariana Grande on the duet “Love Me Harder” from Grande’s second studio album My Everything. in the year 2014. The following year, he released the song titled “Earned It” from the soundtrack of the movie ‘Fifty Shades of Grey.’
He released his second studio album “Beauty Behind the Madness” in August 2015. It consists of five songs and features guest appearances from Labrinth, Ed Sheeran, and Lana Del Rey.
In addition, he released his third studio album “Starboy” on the 25th of November 2016. The album feature collaborations with Kendrick Lamar and Daft Punk. And, it was a commercial hit and earned a Grammy for the best urban contemporary album.
He has also worked with the American rapper Kanye West on the song “FML” from Kanye’s album “The Life of Pablo.” In addition, he also appeared in the song “6 Inch” Beyoncé’s album ‘Lemonade.’
Recent Works
He released his debut EP “My Dear Melancholy” on the 20th of March 2018. It made in number one position on the Billboard 200 with 169,000 units, making it his third consecutive number-one album and the shortest album, by track count, to top the chart in eight years.
Later, he released the EP’s lead single “Call Out My Name” on the 6th of April 2018. This single went to number four on the Billboard Hot 100.
In November 2019, he released “Heartless” as the lead single from his fourth studio album and debuted at number thirty-two on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaked at number one, making it his fourth number-one single. On the 20th of March 2020, he released his fourth studio album “After Hours.”
Caption: The Weeknd performing in a concert (Source: Instagram)
He released the album’s third single “In Your Eyes” on March 24, 2020. The album reached number sixteen on the Billboard Hot 100. Afterward, he released his second greatest hits album “The Highlights” on the 5th of February 2021.
It reached the number two position on the US Billboard 200, making it Tesfaye’s highest-charting compilation album and the biggest first-week debut for a greatest hits album since Fully Loaded: God’s Country (2019).
On the 7th of February 2021, he headlined the Super Bowl LV halftime show, becoming the first Canadian solo artist to headline the show. On the 7th of January 2022, he released his fifth studio album “Dawn FM.”
It debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 with 148,000 units, marking his eighth top-ten entry and his second non-consecutive album to debut at number two.
Acting
This American rapper has made numerous movie references in his music videos and teasers. He made his acting debut in the film “Uncut Gems” (2019). Similarly, he made his third appearance as a musical guest on Saturday Night Live, he starred in the skit “On The Couch” with actors Kenan Thompson and Chris Redd.
The celeb co-wrote and starred in an episode of “American Dad!” on the 4th of May 2019. Moreover, he lent his voice to three characters during the 200th episode of “Robot Chicken.”
Caption: The Weeknd in, The Simpsons (Source: Instagram)
He accounted that he will be co-creating, co-writing, executive producing, and starring in the upcoming HBO television drama series “The Idol,” alongside his producing partner Reza Fahim and Euphoria creator Sam Levinson on the 29th of June 2021. He has lent voice to two characters during an episode of “The Simpsons.”
Awards
Caption: The Weeknd with his two Grammy Awards (Source: Nicki Swift)
Being a famous singer, songwriter, producer, and actor, he has collected a number of awards and recognitions in his profession. He has won four Grammy Awards, a Latin Grammy Award, 20 Billboard Music Awards, six American Music Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards, and 17 Juno Awards.
In addition, he was awarded the Allan Slaight Honour by Canada’s Walk of Fame for “making a positive impact in the fields of music, film, literature, visual or performing arts, sports, innovation or philanthropy” in October 2014.
The Weeknd – Net Worth 2023
As of 2022, his net worth estimates at around $310 million while he earned over $3 million per month as his salary and income. He many this whooping money from his musical album, singles, record sells, concerts, sponsorship, and others.
Relationship Status
As of now, The Weeknd seems to be single and unmarried. However, he was in an on-again, off-again relationship with the American model, Bella Hadid ( from April 2015 to August 2019).
Similarly, he briefly dated American singer-actress, Selena Gomez (from January to October 2017). He was arrested for allegedly punching a police officer in Las Vegas after being taken into an elevator to break up a fight in January 2015.
However, he pleaded no contest and was sentenced to complete fifty hours of community service.
Body Measurements
Caption: The Weeknd posing for a photo (Source: Instagram)
Regarding his body stats, this celeb stands 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs around 85 kg. Moreover, he has dark brown eyes with black hair color and his body type is average. Similarly, he wears a shoe size of 9 US.
The Weeknd – Social Media
On his Instagram page ‘@theweeknd’ there are over 48.1 million. There are over 17.2 million followers on his Twitter page ‘@theweeknd’ and over 17 million on his Facebook page. He has a self-titled YouTube channel, there are over 30.8 million subscribers at the moment.
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