The Weeknd

Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, known professionally as the Weeknd, emerged from Toronto's alternative R&B underground after beginning to release music anonymously in 2009. He co-founded the XO label and, in 2011, issued the mixtapes House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence. Their shadowy, electronic-leaning R&B established a style built around a light lyric tenor, falsetto, dark aesthetics, and cinematic storytelling. After signing with Republic Records, he collected the three tapes as the 2012 compilation Trilogy.

Tesfaye's first studio album, Kiss Land, arrived in 2013. Collaborations and soundtrack work followed before he broadened his sound on Beauty Behind the Madness in 2015 and Starboy in 2016. Both albums debuted atop the US Billboard 200 and produced Hot 100 number-one singles including “Can't Feel My Face,” “The Hills,” “Starboy,” and “Die for You.” His 2018 EP My Dear Melancholy included the US top-ten single “Call Out My Name.”

In 2020, Tesfaye began a three-album sequence structured around three time points with After Hours, an album drawing on dream pop and new wave. It yielded the chart-topping singles “Heartless” and “Save Your Tears,” alongside “Blinding Lights,” which became the best-performing song in Billboard Hot 100 history. The trilogy continued with Dawn FM in 2022, featuring “Take My Breath,” and concluded with Hurry Up Tomorrow in 2025, which included the US top-ten single “Timeless.” His After Hours til Dawn Tour ran from 2022 to 2026 and set the record for the highest-grossing tour by a male soloist.

Beyond recording, Tesfaye co-created and starred in the HBO drama series The Idol in 2023, and appeared in the 2025 film Hurry Up Tomorrow. He hosted the Apple Music 1 radio show Memento Mori from 2018 to 2022. Appointed a World Food Programme goodwill ambassador in 2021, he has also advocated for racial equality and food security. His awards include four Grammy Awards, 20 Billboard Music Awards, 22 Juno Awards, six American Music Awards, three MTV Video Music Awards, and a Latin Grammy Award.