Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, better known by his stage name The Weeknd, was born on February 16, 1990. He’s a Canadian singer-songwriter, record producer, and actor who’s made a huge mark on pop music. People rave about his light-lyric tenor voice and those killer falsetto notes, all wrapped in his signature alternative R&B vibe. His trophy case is stacked: four Grammys, 20 Billboard Music Awards, 22 Junos, six American Music Awards, three MTV VMAs, and even a Latin Grammy.
Before fame
Back in 2010, he kicked things off by anonymously dropping tracks on YouTube, which quickly built him a dedicated fanbase. From there, he dropped the mixtape House of Balloons, and critics couldn’t get enough of it.
Trivia
He’s the first artist ever to dominate the top three spots on the Billboard Hot R&B Songs chart at the same time. In 2018, he even launched his own Marvel comic book called Starboy, inspired by his persona. He stepped into acting with his big-screen debut in the 2019 film Uncut Gems.
Family life
His given name is Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, with Ethiopian roots were his parents hail from, and he speaks Amharic fluently. As an only child, he’s navigated a spotlight-filled personal life too: he started dating Bella Hadid in 2015, and they’ve had an on-again, off-again thing since. He was with Selena Gomez for about a year until their split in late 2017, and he’s also been linked to Alice Ustinova. More recently, he began dating Simi Khadra in 2022.