The Weeknd
Singer
Biography
Age: 25
Birth Date: February 16, 1990
Birth Place: Scarborough, Ontario, Canada
He was born an only child. He is from an Ethiopian descent. Since Tesfaye's father was never around when he was growing up, and his mother was constantly working, his grandmother took care of him most of his life. Because of this, Tesfaye speaks fluent Amharic; it was the first language he learned. He attended West Hill Collegiate Institute but later dropped out. He grew up listening to a variety of music genres, including soul, quiet storm, hip hop, funk, indie rock, and post-punk. He had gotten the stage name the Weeknd after he dropped out of high school at 17 and "left one weekend and never came home" with some of his friends.
Some influences for The Weeknd were:
Music
"'House of Balloons' was special because I had no deadlines, and nobody knew me, so there were no expectations. Spent a year making it perfect. Every song had at least, like, 7 different versions to them before picking the right one." -The Weeknd
Albums
"The House of Balloons" (2011)
"Thursday" (2011)
"Echoes of Silence" (2011)
"Trilogy" (2012)
"Kiss Land" (2013)
"Beauty Behind the Madness" (2015)
He also worked with many people like Drake, Ariana Grande, Wiz Khalifa, Trey Songs, Lana Del Ray, Ed Sheeran, etc.
Awards Won
-BET Centric Award
-MuchMusic Video Award for Video of the Year
-Juno Award for Artist of the Year
-Juno Award for R&B/Soul Recording of the Year
-Youtube Music Award
-American Music Award for Favorite Soul/R&B Album
Interesting Facts
~When he first entered the music industry, he was so insecure that he would ask to be cropped out of photos
~Before concerts, Tesfaye gets his energy right by blasting Michael Jackson's "Off the Wall."
~He loves the Joker from the Batman
~Ethiopian music also inspires him.