In the pantheon of modern music, few artists have ascended from obscurity to ubiquity quite like Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd. Born on February 16, 1990, in Toronto, Canada, to Ethiopian immigrant parents, Tesfaye’s journey is a tapestry woven from hardship, hedonism, and unyielding ambition. At 35, he stands among the world’s best-selling artists, with over 75 million records sold, three diamond-certified singles, and a sound that fuses alternative R&B, synth-pop, and ’80s nostalgia into something profoundly intoxicating. His falsetto-drenched vocals and confessional lyrics about love, loss, and excess have not only topped charts but reshaped the genre. Yet, as he wraps up what may be his final chapter under the “Weeknd” moniker with the 2025 album Hurry Up Tomorrow, Tesfaye is poised for reinvention—perhaps as an actor, philanthropist, or simply Abel.
Early Life: A Foundation of Struggle and Escape
Tesfaye’s upbringing in Scarborough, a working-class Toronto suburb, was marked by absence and resilience. His parents, Makkonen Tesfaye and Samrawit Hailu, separated soon after his birth, leaving him to be raised by his mother and maternal grandmother in a strict Ethiopian Orthodox household. Fluent in Amharic and French from immersion schooling, young Abel attended West Hill Collegiate Institute and Birchmount Park Collegiate before dropping out at 17. The decision was impulsive: he fled home for a “weekend” of freedom in Parkdale, Toronto’s bohemian underbelly, never to return—hence his stage name, tweaked to “The Weeknd” to dodge trademark issues with a Canadian band.
What followed was a blur of homelessness, petty crime, and substance experimentation—ketamine, cocaine, MDMA, and codeine-laced cough syrup became both crutches and muses. “It was tough growing up where I was from,” he later told Variety in 2020, crediting music as his “way out” when film dreams faltered. Early hip-hop forays under the alias Kin Kane with the duo Bulleez n’ Nerdz yielded little. Still, a chance encounter with producer Jeremy Rose in 2010 sparked his signature sound: dark, atmospheric R&B laced with hedonistic tales.
Rise to Fame: Mixtapes and the Birth of XO
Anonymity was The Weeknd’s shield. In late 2010, under pseudonyms like xoxxxoooxo, he uploaded haunting tracks—”What You Need,” “Loft Music”—to YouTube, drawing buzz from Toronto’s rap scene. Drake’s shoutout on his blog was the catalyst; by March 2011, House of Balloons dropped as a free mixtape via XO, the label Tesfaye co-founded with managers Wassim “Sal” Slaiby and Amir “Cash” Esmailian. Produced by Illangelo and Doc McKinney, it introduced themes of sex, drugs, and emotional voids, earning a Polaris Music Prize shortlist and a guest spot on Drake’s Take Care (“Crew Love”).
The momentum built with Thursday (August 2011) and Echoes of Silence (December 2011), both critically lauded for their cinematic dread. Compiled as a Trilogy in 2012 under Republic Records, it debuted at No. 4 on the Billboard 200, going double-platinum in Canada. Live shows followed: sold-out Bowery Ballroom gigs, Coachella debuts, and opening slots for Florence + the Machine. By 2013, Kiss Land—inspired by his first international tour—hit No. 2, blending club bangers like “Belong to the World” with introspective cuts. Contributions to The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (“Devil May Cry”) and Ariana Grande’s “Love Me Harder” cemented his crossover appeal.
Mainstream Breakthrough: Hits, Heartbreak, and Headliners
2015 was transformative. Beauty Behind the Madness exploded with “Can’t Feel My Face” and “The Hills,” both No. 1 Hot 100 smashes—the latter diamond-certified and infamous for its raw video (a Vegas arrest for punching a cop mid-fame didn’t help). The album’s 412,000 first-week sales earned a Grammy for Best Urban Contemporary Album and nods for Album of the Year. Collaborations poured in: Beyoncé’s Lemonade (“6 Inch”), Kanye West’s The Life of the Pablo (“FML”).
Starboy (2016) doubled down, featuring Daft Punk on the diamond title track and “I Feel It Coming.” Triple-platinum and No. 1, it spawned the globe-trotting Legend of the Fall Tour. The EP My Dear Melancholy (2018) was a post-breakup salve, with “Call Out My Name” peaking at No. 4 amid headlines of his on-off romance with Bella Hadid and brief fling with Selena Gomez. Pandemic isolation birthed After Hours (2020), a neon-soaked masterpiece. “Blinding Lights”—the longest-running Top 10 Hot 100 hit ever (90 weeks)—and “Heartless” drove 444,000 first-week units, making it the most-streamed R&B album to date. His self-funded Super Bowl LV halftime show (2021) was a cultural reset, earning Emmy nods. Dawn FM (2022), narrated by Jim Carrey, evoked late-night FM radio with “Take My Breath,” debuting at No. 2.
Recent Ventures: Acting, Activism, and the Trilogy’s End
The 2020s tested Tesfaye’s versatility. The Idol (2023), his HBO co-creation with Sam Levinson, was a critical flop—canceled after one season amid “torture porn” accusations and toxic set rumors—but spawned a soundtrack EP with Future and Lil Baby. Undeterred, he channeled personal trauma—losing his voice mid-2022 tour—into Hurry Up Tomorrow (January 31, 2025), the trilogy capstone after After Hours and Dawn FM. Singles like “Timeless” (with Playboi Carti, Top 5) and “Dancing in the Flames” explore existential dread. At the same time, the companion film (May 2025, starring Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan) bombed critically (“all style, no substance”) and commercially ($7.6M in grosses vs. a $15M budget).
Tours remain his fortress: The After Hours til Dawn Tour (2022–2026), co-headlined with Playboi Carti, grossed over $1 billion, the highest for an R&B act. Philanthropy underscores his ethos: As WFP Goodwill Ambassador since 2021, he’s donated millions for Tigray famine relief, Gaza aid, and Hurricane Melissa victims (November 2025: $350K). Ventures like the HXOUSE incubator and Nespresso collaborations (2025 blend) show his entrepreneurial streak.
Awards tally 4 Grammys, 20 Billboards, 22 Junos, and an Oscar nod (“Earned It”). Time’s 2020 100 list and Toronto’s “Weeknd Day” (February 7, 2021) affirm his status as an icon. Controversies linger—Grammy snubs (2021), plagiarism suits (dismissed), a Drake feud (reignited 2024)—but they fuel his narrative of redemption.
Legacy: A Voice for the Lost and Found
The Weeknd’s enigma endures: sober-ish since 2017 (weed and occasional drinks only), ADHD-diagnosed, and private about his relationship with DJ Simi Khadra (since 2022). Raised Christian but questioning faith, he mines vulnerability for art. As Hurry Up Tomorrow hints at closure—”final album under this name,” he told Variety—Tesfaye eyes film (post-Hurry Up thriller buzz) and beyond. From Parkdale squats to Rose Bowl one-nights, The Weeknd embodies reinvention. His music, a siren call for the heartbroken, proves: even in the flames, tomorrow hurries up.
