The Weeknd is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and record producer. In 2010, he began his recording career, anonymously uploading several songs to YouTube. He has received numerous accolades, including four Grammy Awards, 19 Billboard Music Awards, 15 Juno Awards, six American Music Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards, and an Academy Award nomination. Weeknd is the first artist to simultaneously debut on the top three on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, while “Blinding Lights” is the longest-charting song in Billboard history.
Birth Name
Abel Makkonen Tesfaye
Nickname
The Weeknd
Profession
Singer, Songwriter, Record Producer, Rapper
Genre
Alternative R&B, Soul, Hip hop, Pop, R&B
Instruments
Vocals, Keyboards
Labels
XO, Republic Records
Nationality
Canadian
Personal Life
Birthday / Date of Birth
The Weeknd was born on the 16th of February 1990, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Age
He’s currently 32 years old.
Sun Sign
Aquarius
Ethnicity
Multiracial
He has Ethiopian ancestry.
Religion
Education
Weeknd went to Samuel Hearne Middle School, and then, West Hill Collegiate Institute in Toronto. At 17, he dropped out of high school named, Birchmount Park Collegiate Institute.
Family Details
- Father – Makkonen
- Mother – Samra Tesfaye
- Siblings – He is an only child.
Marital Status
Single
Girlfriend / Spouse
The Weeknd has dated –
- Alice Ustinova (2012) – Weeknd has dated makeup artist and stylist Alice Ustinova until 2012. Alice has also done a photoshoot for Alice in Wonderland.
- Bella Hadid (2015-2016, 2018-2019) – In April 2015, Weeknd started dating the American model and Gigi Hadid‘s sister, Bella Hadid. They broke up in November 2016. Bella reconciled with The Weeknd in the summer of 2018 and the couple dated once again until August 2019.
- Selena Gomez (2017) – In January 2017, Weeknd started dating American singer Selena Gomez. They dated for 10 months and split in October 2017.
- Yovanna Ventura (2017) – In November 10, 2017, model Yovanna Ventura and The Weeknd went on a date in Beverly Hills, California.
- Simi Khadra (2022) – In February 2022, Weeknd was rumored to be dating DJ Simi Khadra after they were spotted kissing at an event.
Physical Statistics
Height
- In feet – 5 feet 8 inches
- In centimeters – 173 cm
- In meters – 1.73 m
Weight
- In Kilograms – 75 kg
- In Pounds – 166 lbs
Body Build
Average
Eye Color
Dark Brown
Hair Color
Dishwater Squirrel Brown
Sexuality
Straight
Professional Statistics
Famous For
Weeknd became known after appearing his songs like Wicked Games, Love Me Harder, Earned It, Can’t Feel My Face, The Hills and others.
Album Debut
In November 2012, Weeknd released his debut album Trilogy via Republic Records. It was not a studio album, but a compilation album, which reached #1 in the US Hip Hop albums chart. He was able to sell 558,000 copies of the album in the United States and was certified as “Platinum” in America.
Brand Endorsements
Weeknd has appeared in the Apple Music commercial, which was premiered at MTV VMA 2015. His song ‘Blinding Lights’ was used in Pepsi’s Super Bowl Commercial in January 2021. He himself has also appeared in a Pepsi Super Bowl 2021 commercial.
The Weeknd Net worth
The Weeknd has an estimated net worth of $300 million dollars as of 2023.
Social Media Profiles
- Instagram – The Weeknd
- Twitter – The Weeknd
- Facebook – The Weeknd
Some Lesser Known Facts About The Weeknd
- Weeknd started doing marijuana when he was 11 years old.
- He was raised by his grandmother for the most part as his parents were busy working.
- He adopted his stage name The Weeknd at the age of 17 after dropping out of high school.
- He uses the stage name The Weeknd as there was already a Canadian pop-rock band, named, the Weekend.
- In January 2015, Tesfaye was arrested for allegedly punching a police officer in Las Vegas after being taken into an elevator to break up a fight.
- In 2015, Weeknd joined the ranks of Elvis Presley, The Beatles and Taylor Swift after his track The Hills replaced his other chart-topping single, Can’t Feel My Face, on the ‘Billboard’ Hot 100 chart. He is the 12th person to have two tracks back-to-back on the top of the list.
- He recently confirmed during a Reddit AMA that he spells his name without the “e” because of copyright issues.
- Weeknd is good friends with Drake.
- In 2017, he purchased a home in Hidden Hills, California for $18.5 million, which he sold to Madonna in 2021 for $19.3 million.
- In April 2019, Tesfaye became an owner and global ambassador of the esports company OverActive Media, who owns the Splyce and Overwatch League team Toronto Defiant.
- In December 2020, Weeknd released the remix of his famous song Blinding Lights which featured Rosalia for the Spanish lyrics on the song. The original version of the song was released on November 29, 2019.
- In 2021, he teamed up with Postmates in a campaign that highlights Black-owned restaurants to deliver food to frontline healthcare workers.
- In March 2021, Tesfaye auctioned a collection of visual artwork and an unreleased song in the form of a non-fungible token (NFT) on Nifty Gateway.
- In March 2021, Weeknd purchased a new custom gaming PC worth $8,000. The major specifications included AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12 Core Processor, EVGA RTX 3090 FTW3 Ultra Gaming 24GB, Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB 32GB (8GBx4) 3600Mhz, Mushkin 2TB Gamma Gen4 NVME SSD (7,000MB/s Read/Write), and much more.
- In April 2021, he donated $1 million to hunger relief in Ethiopia to provide 2 million meals through the United Nations World Food Programme amid reports of ethnic cleansing in the Tigray region.
- In April 2021, Weeknd had sold his 12,547 square feet Hidden Hills mansion to Madonna for $19.3 million.
- In August 2021, he released his new single titled Take My Breath.
- In August 2021, he had purchased a 33,000 square feet mansion in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles for a huge $70 million.
- In September 2021, Weeknd was honored with the Quincy Jones Humanitarian Award at the Music in Action Awards.
- In October 2021, he was announced as the goodwill ambassador for the U.N.’s World Food Programme.
- In October 2021, he joined football player Tom Brady’s NFT platform Autograph as a member of their board of directors.
- In October 2021, Weeknd teamed up with Swedish House Mafia teamed up for the release of a new song titled Moth to a Flame.
- In November 2021, Weeknd and Post Malone teamed up for a new song titled One Right Now.
- In January 2022, Weeknd released his new album titled Dawn FM which was his 5th studio album. The album debuted at the number 2 spot on the Billboard 200 albums chart.
- In January 2022, Weeknd listed his Los Angeles-based 7,950 square feet penthouse for $22.5 million. He had previously purchased the property in 2019 for $21 million.
- In January 2022, Weeknd released the music video of his new song titled Sacrifice.
- On March 20, 2022, Tesfaye voiced two characters during an episode of The Simpsons.
