The Weeknd: Everything you need to know about the 'Blinding Lights' singer
He's had an incredible career so far!
With a ton of chart topping albums and singles under his belt, The Weeknd, also known by his real name Abel Tesfaye, truly ruled the 2010s and looks set to continue this trend into the 2020s. His synth heavy throwback hits, such as the TikTok sensation 'Blinding Lights', have certainly played their part in shifting the pop music scene.
After he embarked on a UK tour in 2023 and released a collaboration with Ariana Grande, called 'Die For You', the singer has now started to tease his latest album called 'Hurry Up Tomorrow', and plans for 2025, so let's take a look at who the Canadian singer is.
Who is The Weeknd?
The Weeknd is a pop and R&B musician from Toronto, Canada. He first jetted into pop stardom with the album 'Beauty Behind the Madness' released in 2015, which featured the hit singles 'The Hills' and 'Can't Feel My Face'.
He has since been a mainstay of the pop landscape, with a slew of hits and collaborations with artists such as Kendrick Lamar, Beyoncé and Ariana Grande.
The Weeknd's most recent album 'Dawn FM' was released in January 2022 and featured his Top 10 hit 'Sacrifice'.
His album 'After Hours' was released in 2020 and featured the song 'Blinding Lights', one of The Weeknd's biggest hits to date. In 2021 he affirmed his status in pop royalty through performing at The Super Bowl half time show.
What is The Weeknd's real name?
The Weeknd's real name is Abel Makkonen Tesfaye.
When is his birthday?
The Weeknd was born on 16th February 1990 (meaning he's an Aquarius for all you astrologers out there ♒️). At the time of writing The Weeknd is currently 34-years-old.
Is The Weeknd in a band?
Although he has collaborated with many other artists and producers, The Weeknd is a solo artist.
How did he become famous?
The Weeknd first got big with the release of three mixtapes: 'House of Balloons', 'Thursday' and 'Echoes of Silence', later released as the compilation album 'Trilogy' in 2012. His first mainstream success came with the release of 'Kissland' in 2013, which reached number 2 on the US Billboard 200.
He saw further success with the song 'Earned It' in 2014. This song was released as part of the soundtrack to 'Fifty Shades of Grey' and was featured in his album 'Beauty Behind the Madness' released in 2015. This album also featured the hit singles 'The Hills' and 'Can't Feel My Face'.
In the following years he released the albums 'Starboy' in 2016 and 'After Hours' in 2020. With his fifth album 'Dawn FM' released in 2022, The Weekend's ascent shows no sign of slowing.
Now take a look at The Weeknd's career - from 'Earned It' to 'Blinding Lights' and beyond.
The Weeknd's plans for 2025
The Weeknd revealed in December 2024 that fans could look forward to a lot of new things in 2025. He confirmed he would have a new album and movie, along with a new tour and 'new everything'!
The Weeknd's latest album
The singer has started to tease a new album called 'Hurry Up Tomorrow', however it has not yet been released.
The Weeknd's most recent album is titled 'Dawn FM', and it dropped on 7th January 2022. The album was teased on The Weeknd's Instagram since the release of 'Take My Breath' in 2021, and is thought to follow in the song's disco/synth aesthetic.
Upon the album's release, The Weeknd took to his Instagram to simply write: 'album out now (link in bio)'.
On 4th January 2022, the singer teased the album artwork on his Instagram account, featuring his face covered with prosthetics and hair to make him look older.
The album features collaborations with Tyler, The Creator, Lil Wayne and... Jim Carrey!? Yep, you heard us right, The Grinch himself - this is definitely the collaboration we were most intrigued by.
The Weeknd released the album's tracklist on Instagram on 5th January 2022.
Official track list for The Weeknd's 'Dawn FM':
- 'Dawn FM'
- 'Gasoline'
- 'How Do I Make You Love Me?'
- 'Take My Breath'
- 'Sacrifice'
- 'A Tale By Quincy'
- 'Out Of Time'
- 'Here We Go... Again'
- 'Best Friends'
- 'Is There Someone Else?'
- 'Starry Eyes'
- 'Every Angel Is Terrifying'
- 'Don't Break My Heart'
- 'I Heard You're Married'
- 'Less Than Zero'
- 'Phantom Regret By Jim'
How did he get his name?
In 2013, The Weeknd revealed in a Reddit AMA how he came up with his name. He replied to a fan question about where he got his name from, saying:
'I left home when I was about 17 dropped out of high school and convinced Lamar to do the same lol. We grabbed our mattresses from our parents threw it in our friends s----- van and left one weekend and never came back home. It was gonna be the title of HOB. I hated my name at the time though so I tried it as a stage name. It sounded cool.'
If you're wondering why he dropped the 'e' from 'the weekend', he cleared that up too, saying: 'I took out the "e" because there was already a Canadian band named the weekend (copyright issues).'
Has he ever won a Grammy?
The Weeknd has won three Grammys: Best Urban Contemporary Album in 2016 and 2018 for 'Beauty Behind the Madness' and 'Starboy' and Best R&B Performance for 'Earned It' in 2016. Whilst 'After Hours' was an imensely successful album commercially and critically, it received no nominations for the 2021 ceremony. In response to this The Weeknd announced he would no longer be submitting his music for the awards ceremony.
The Weeknd's collaborations with Ariana Grande
The Weeknd and Ariana Grande have collaborated multiple times. They first collaborated in 2014 on the song 'Love Me Harder', released as part of Ariana's second album 'My Everything'. Their next collaboration came in 2020 with the song 'Off the Table' released as part of Grande's album 'Positions'.
Then in 2021, Ariana featured on a remix of The Weeknd's song 'Save Your Tears'. In 2023, the pair released a collab called 'Die For You', which is a remix of the 2017 song by The Weeknd.
Having collaborated multiple times, the pair are definitely friends. Abel owes a lot to Ariana as Variety notes. It was through working on 'Love Me Harder' with her that he met producer Max Martin, who he wrote many of his breakthrough hits with.
Who else has The Weeknd collaborated with?
Drake
The Weeknd first collaborated with Drake back in 2012. The two Toronto artists worked together on the songs 'Good Ones Go Interlude' and 'The Ride' off Drake's 2012 album 'Take Care'. The two collaborated again the following year, when Drake appeared on The Weeknd's song 'Live For' from his album 'Kiss Land.'
Sia
The Weeknd and Sia collaborated in 2013 when he appeared on her song 'Elastic Heart' alongside Diplo.
Ariana Grande (2014)
The Weeknd and Ariana Grande first collaborated in 2014 when he appeared on her song 'Love Me Harder' featured on her second album 'My Everything.'
Kanye West
The Weeknd and Kanye West first collaborated when The Weeknd appeared on Kanye's 2016 album 'The Life of Pablo', on the song 'FML.'
Beyoncé
The Weeknd collaborated with Queen Bey in 2016, appearing on '6 Inch' on her groundbreaking album 'Lemonade.'
Daft Punk
The Weeknd collaborated with famed French producers Daft Punk in 2016 on the singles 'Starboy' and 'I Feel It Coming' released as part of his 'Starboy' album.
Kendrick Lamar
The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar collaborated in 2016, when Lamar appeared on The Weeknd's song 'Sidewalks' on his album 'Starboy'.
Calvin Harris
The Weeknd and Calvin Harris collaborated in 2020 on the song 'Over Now', a non album release.
Ariana Grande (2020)
The Weeknd and Ariana Grande collaborated again in 2020, when he appeared on her song 'Off the Table', as part of her album 'Positions.'
Doja Cat
The Weekend and Doja Cat collaborated in 2021 on her song 'You Right', released as part of her album 'Planet Her.'
Ariana Grande
The Weeknd and Ariana Grande collaborated when she appeared on a remix of his song 'Save Your Tears' in 2021.
Kanye West
The Weeknd appeared on Kanye West's song 'Hurricane' alongside Lil Baby. This song appeared on Kanye's massive album 'Donda'.
Swedish House Mafia
The Weeknd released 'Moth To A Flame' with Swedish House Mafia in 2021. The song was a Top 20 song for the collaborators.
Ariana Grande (2023)
The Weeknd and Ariana Grande released another collaboration together called 'Die For You' in 2023. The song is a remix of The Weeknd's 2017 song, and fans were delighted to see the pair team up once again.
Madonna
The Weeknd, Madonna and Playboi Carti teamed up in February 2024 on the catchy track 'Popular'. The song went viral on TikTok, as well as the music video amassing almost 8 million views within just a few days.
What are The Weeknd's most popular songs?
'Save Your Tears'
'Blinding Lights'
'Starboy'
'Can't Feel My Face'
'Take My Breath'
'The Hills'
'l Feel It Coming'
'Earned It'
'After Hours'
The Weeknd's 2023 tour
The Weeknd toured in 2023! He brought his 'After Hours Til Dawn' world tour to the UK in June, July and August.
The Weeknd's Super Bowl performance
The Weeknd's status as pop royalty was cemented in 2021 when he performed at the Super Bowl half time show, following the footsteps of greats such as Prince, Madonna and Beyoncé (yes, that's right, the queen herself).
Unstopped by COVID restrictions, The Weeknd brought the show onto the field with a magnitude of masked dancers taking over the stadium, truly a performance for the history books.
You can watch the full performance on the NFL YouTube channel.
Has be been in any TV shows?
The Weeknd appeared on American Dad back in 2020 and appeared in an episode of The Simpsons on 20th March 2022. The singer confirmed the news in a tweet, retweeting a fan account saying: 'proud of this one💛'.
The character The Weeknd plays is called Orion Hughes in an episode called Bart The Cool Kid.
After the episode aired he shared a clip where his character turns up at the Simpsons' house to apologise to Bart after he was humiliated trying to return fake trainers.
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