His stage name is The Weeknd, and he is a singer, lyrics writer, and music producer from Canada. The inspiration for becoming a musician came from his idol, pop icon Michael Jackson.
Later, the main influencers in his career were R&B artists, like Missy Elliot and Timbaland. Being dedicated to his work and dreams, he achieved world fame, and today he is the inspiration for many.
Stay tuned and find out more about his background, education, and current lifestyle.
Early Life
Abel Makkonen Tesfaye was born on the 16th of February 1990, to Makkonen and Samra Tesfaye. His birthplace was Scarborough, Ontario. His parents are Ethiopians, but they started a new life in Canada in the ’80s.
The young man was raised by his mum and grandma since his father left the family when he was a baby; therefore, he does not even remember him. His mother had the job of a nurse, but she was taking bonus jobs on her shoulders so she can provide more for the house and her son.
His native language is Amharic, but he learned French as well in elementary school. Throughout his childhood, he changed two schools, West Hill Collegiate and Birchmount Park Collegiate Institute. Unfortunately, he got suspension from one of these two schools and left home. He started to live with a couple of friends.
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Career
The famous artist started his professional music career after meeting producer Jeremy Rose, and he created for him few songs, and they were working together on an album called “The Weekend.” In 2010 he found YouTube channel and named it “The Weeknd” and broadcasted three songs created for Jeremy. Soon, they became popular and got a lot of views.
The first mixtape he created in 2011 called “House of Balloons” had nine songs, including three earlier mentioned. This mixtape got a nomination for the 2011 Polaris Music Prize. Drake, R&B icon, liked his music a lot; therefore, they started performing together. Soon, he brought out a second and third mixtape. Thanks to this work, he became a worldwide star in a year.
2012 was the year when he started being active in festivals around America and Europe. He signed the agreement with Republic Records in the same year. In 2013, he brought out his solo studio album called “Kiss Land,” and he got great critics for it. This song had great success on US Billboard taking the second position. He had long and fruitful cooperation with Drake.
In 2014, he had a collaboration with Ariana Grande for the song “Love Me, Harder.” He was also a companion on Justin Timberlake’s “The 20/20 Experience World Tour.” In the coming years, he was cooperating with more big names like Ed Sheeran, Lana Del Rey, Daft Punk, and many others. In 2016 he had a contribution to the songs “FML” of Kanye West and “6 inches” of Beyonce.
Some of his songs have more than billion views on YouTube, such as “Can’t feel my face.”
Personal Life
The Hip-hop icon was dating Selena Gomez for a year. The couple broke up in 2017. The latest news regarding his love life says that his current girlfriend, Abel, is a copy of Selena.
The Weeknd Net Worth 2024
As of March 2024, The Weeknd has an estimated net worth of approximately $100 million. He is in one of the wealthiest performers of hip-hop music, and largest-paid celebrities worldwide this year. In 2017, he became a resident in Californians, Hidden Hills. He purchased an outstanding property worth $20 million.
