The Weeknd

**Abel Makkonen Tesfaye** (Amharic: አበል መኮነን ተስፋዬ; born February 16, 1990), known professionally as**The Weeknd,** is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and actor. He is also the ex-boyfriend of singer-songwriter Selena Gomez and model Bella Hadid.

## About The Weeknd

### Career

Known for his sonic versatility and dark lyricism, his music explores escapism, romance, and melancholia, and is often inspired by personal experiences. His accolades include four Grammy Awards, twenty *Billboard* Music Awards, twenty-two Juno Awards, six American Music Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards, a Latin Grammy Award, and nominations for an Academy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award.

### Early life / Career

Born and raised in Toronto, Ontario, Tesfaye began his career in 2009 by anonymously releasing music on YouTube. Two years later, he co-founded the XO record label and released the mixtapes *House of Balloons*, *Thursday* and *Echoes of Silence*, which gained recognition for his style of contemporary and alternative R&B and the mystique surrounding his identity. In 2012, he signed with Republic Records and rereleased the mixtapes in the compilation album *Trilogy*. He explored dark wave in his debut studio album *Kiss Land* (2013), which debuted at number two on the US *Billboard* 200. After its release, Tesfaye began contributing to film soundtracks, with his acclaimed single "Earned It" from *Fifty Shades of Grey* (2015) winning the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance, while also being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Tesfaye earned critical and commercial success with his pop-leaning second album *Beauty Behind the Madness* (2015), which reached number one in the US, contained the US *Billboard* Hot 100 chart-topping singles "Can't Feel My Face" and "The Hills", and won the Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album and was nominated for Album of the Year. His trap-infused third studio album *Starboy* (2016) saw similar commercial success and included the US number-one single of the same name and "Die For You", and won the Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album. Tesfaye explored new wave and dream pop with his critically acclaimed fourth studio album *After Hours* (2020), which featured the chart record-setting single "Blinding Lights" and the US number-one singles "Heartless" and "Save Your Tears". His dance-pop inspired fifth album *Dawn FM* (2022) included the US top-ten single "Take My Breath".

Among the world's best-selling music artists with over 75 million records sold, Tesfaye holds several streaming and *Billboard* chart records.<ref>

## Personal life

### Relationships

From April 2015 to August 2019, Tesfaye was in an on-again, off-again relationship with American model Bella Hadid. He briefly dated American singer-actress Selena Gomez from December 2016 to October 2017.

### Residences

As of August 2021, Tesfaye resides in Bel Air, Los Angeles. Tesfaye previously lived in penthouses in Westwood, Los Angeles and New York City.

## References

1. ↑ Eells, Josh. "Sex, Drugs and R&B: Inside The Weeknd's Dark Twisted Fantasy", Rolling Stone, October 21, 2015.
2. ↑ McDuffie, Candace (November 23, 2016). 5 Reasons the Weeknd Is Redefining Music (en-US). Retrieved on December 23, 2021. “Born Abel Tesfaye, The Weeknd is a provocative and groundbreaking artist with a vocal style that simultaneously channels the greats, putting the Toronto native in a league of his own. Not only does he champion and embrace individuality, he chooses to be both lyrically and sonically daring. The Weeknd’s creative approach to music is uniquely appealing because he offers a form of escapism; he is able to transport you to the exact moments he sings about through his use of explicit detail.”
3. ↑ House of Balloons – The Weeknd. Metacritic. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021.
4. ↑ Cox, Jamieson (February 28, 2016). Watch The Weeknd reenact the "Earned It" video on the Oscar stage (en). Retrieved on November 9, 2021.
5. ↑ 59th Annual GRAMMY Awards. 59th Annual Grammy Awards (November 28, 2017). Archived from the original on January 31, 2018.
6. ↑ McIntyre, Hugh. The Weeknd Scores The Largest Streaming Week Ever For An R&B Album (en). Retrieved on November 26, 2021.
7. ↑ Tyska, Jane. "Photos: The Weeknd plays Super Bowl LV halftime show", *The Mercury News*, February 7, 2021.
8. ↑ Lavin, Will. "Billie Eilish, The Weeknd and Bad Bunny among Spotify's most-streamed artists of 2020", *NME*, December 1, 2020.