Abel Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), better known by his stage name The Weeknd, is a Canadian R&B recording artist and record producer from Scarborough, Ontario. Tesfaye uploaded several songs to YouTube under the name, "The Weeknd," in early 2011, though his identity was initially unknown. In March 2011, The Weeknd released a free nine-song album, House of Balloons, which was critically acclaimed. The title track is based on a sample of Siouxsie and the Banshees' hit single "Happy House". Tesfaye released the compilation album Trilogy, on November 13, 2012. The album consists of remastered versions of the three mixtapes he had already released, and also contains three new tracks, called "Twenty Eight", "Valerie", and "Till Dawn" as bonus tracks. The album was released under Universal Republic Records, and his own label XO. Since then, The Weeknd has released 6 other albums; Kiss Land (2013), Beauty Behind The Madness (2015), Starboy (2016), My Dear Melancholy, (2018), After Hours (2020) and Dawn FM (2022).
The Weeknd has received praise from several music publications, including Pitchfork, MTV, BET, Rolling Stone, XXL and The Source, who have dubbed him the "songbird of his generation" and the "best musical talent since Michael Jackson" (John Norris, MTV).
Collaborations with Drake[]
The Weeknd has collaborated with Drake on the songs:
- "Shot for Me" (written)
- "Crew Love" (written, produced)
- "Cameras / Good Ones Go Interlude" (written)
- "Practice" (written)
- "The Ride" (written, produced)
- "The Zone" (The Weeknd ft. Drake)
- "Live For" (The Weeknd ft. Drake)