Abél Makkonen "The Weeknd" Tesfaye (b. February 16, 1990) is a Canadian singer and and songwriter. Known for his sonic versatility and dark lyricism, his music explores escapism, romance, and melancholia, and is often inspired by personal experiences. His accolades include four Grammy Awards, twenty Billboard Music Awards, twenty-two Juno Awards, six American Music Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards, a Latin Grammy Award, and nominations for an Academy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award.
Born and raised in Toronto, Tesfaye began his career in 2009 by anonymously releasing music on YouTube. Two years later, he co-founded the XO record label and released the mixtapes House of Balloons, Thursday and Echoes of Silence, which gained recognition for his style of contemporary and alternative R&B and the mystique surrounding his identity. In 2012, he signed with Republic Records and rereleased the mixtapes in the compilation album Trilogy. He explored dark wave in his debut studio album Kiss Land (2013), which debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200. After its release, Tesfaye began contributing to film soundtracks, with his acclaimed single "Earned It" from Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) winning the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance, while also being nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
Tesfaye earned critical and commercial success with his pop-leaning second album Beauty Behind the Madness (2015), which reached number one in the US, contained the US Billboard Hot 100 chart-topping singles "Can't Feel My Face" and "The Hills", and won the Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album and was nominated for Album of the Year. His trap-infused third studio album Starboy (2016) saw similar commercial success and included the US number-one single of the same name and "Die For You", and won the Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album. Tesfaye explored new wave and dream pop with his critically acclaimed fourth studio album After Hours (2020), which featured the chart record-setting single "Blinding Lights" and the US number-one singles "Heartless" and "Save Your Tears". His dance-pop inspired fifth album Dawn FM (2022) included the US top-ten single "Take My Breath".
Among the world's best-selling music artists with over 75 million records sold, Tesfaye holds several streaming and Billboard chart records. He is credited with five Diamond certifications from the RIAA for "Earned It", "The Hills", "Can't Feel My Face", "Starboy" and "Blinding Lights". He is the first artist to simultaneously debut on the top three on Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, while "Blinding Lights" is ranked as the greatest Hot 100 song in Billboard history. Often considered as a prominent figure in contemporary popular music, Tesfaye was listed by Time as one of the world's most influential people in 2020. In 2023, Guinness World Records named Tesfaye as ‘the world’s most popular artist’. An advocate for racial equality and food security, he was appointed a World Food Programme Goodwill Ambassador in 2021.
He appeared on Saturday Night Live and made cameo appearance performing "Love Me Harder" with Ariana Grande (who is also the musical guest) on September 27, 2014, which is the Season 40 premiere, hosted by actor Chris Pratt.
He made his 2nd appearance and the first time as the musical guest on October 10, 2015, the second episode of Season 41, hosted by stand-up comedian and actress Amy Schumer. During the Season 41 Episode 14 episode hosted by Jonah Hill, he joined musical guest Future onstage for a performance of “Low Life.” He performed "The Hills" featuring Nicki Minaj and "Can't Feel My Face".
He made his 2nd musical guest appearance on October 1, 2016, which is the Season 42 premiere, hosted by Australian actress Margot Robbie. He performed "Starboy" and "False Alarm".
He returned to Saturday Night Live as the musical guest for his 3rd appearance on March 7, 2020, hosted by English actor Daniel Craig, where he performed "Blinding Lights" and "Scared to Live", the latter with Oneohtrix Point Never. He also appears in the pre-recorded "On the Couch", with Kenan Thompson and Chris Redd.
Three times he appeared on the show, he was featured in a mini-segment on Weekend Update called "The Weeknd Update".
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