Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, known by his stage name The Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and record producer. Noted for his falsetto and eccentric music style, The Weeknd is recognized for heavily influencing contemporary R&B and multiple artists.

He began his recording career in 2010, anonymously uploading several songs to YouTube. A year later, the Weeknd released the mixtapes House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence, and quickly earned a following and critical recognition from several mainstream publications due to his dark style of R&B and the mystique surrounding his identity.

In 2012, the Weeknd signed with Republic Records and re-released the mixtapes as part of the compilation album Trilogy (2012). His debut studio album, Kiss Land, was released in 2013. He followed the album with Beauty Behind the Madness (2015), which was among the best-selling albums of 2015.

Containing the Billboard Hot 100 #1 singles "Can't Feel My Face" and "The Hills," Beauty Behind the Madness won Best Urban Contemporary Album and was nominated for Album of the Year at the 2016 Grammy Awards.

The Weeknd's third album Starboy (2016) was a similar commercial success and included the #1 single of the same name, while it also won Best Urban Contemporary Album at the 2018 Grammy Awards. His fourth album, After Hours (2020), featured the #1 singles "Heartless" and "Blinding Lights.

" The Weeknd has won three Grammy Awards and has been nominated for an Academy Award. He holds several chart records, including having been the first artist to simultaneously hold the top three positions on the Billboard Hot R&B Songs chart with "Can't Feel My Face," "Earned It," and "The Hills.

" The Weeknd was awarded the Allan Slaight Award by Canada's Walk of Fame. He is one of the most successful Canadian recording artists of all time, with more than 75 million records sold worldwide.