The Weeknd
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The Weeknd (* 16 February 1990 as Abel Tesfaye Makkonen in Toronto ) is a Canadian R & B - / Hip-Hop - Singer and songwriter with electronic influences .
Youth and private life
Tesfaye is of Ethiopian descent and was born in Scarborough , Toronto's easternmost district . According to his own account, he grew up listening to various musical genres, including soul , hip-hop , funk , indie rock and post-punk . Because he grew up without a father and his mother was employed, his grandmother raised him until he was five years old. He speaks Amharic , the official Ethiopian language - it was the first language he learned.
After dropping out of high school at the age of 17 , he came up with his stage name: "ran away on a weekend and never came home" ("left one weekend and never came home."). However, since a Canadian band already bears the name The Weekend , he modified the spelling ( The Weeknd ).
The Weeknd was at times in a relationship with the American model Bella Hadid and with the singer and actress Selena Gomez .
Career
He became known through his collaboration with the rapper Drake , who is also from Toronto, and his publications on YouTube . On March 21, 2011 he published the mixtape House of Balloons on his website for free download. The mixtape Thursday was released on August 18, 2011 , and the third mixtape entitled Echoes of Silence followed on December 21st . In 2012 Tesfaye began his first tour in the USA, with a performance at the Coachella Festival. He also extended his tour to Europe and was also a guest at the Wireless Festival in London. In September 2012, Tesfaye signed with Republic Records in a joint venture with its own imprint XO. On November 13th, 2012 the compilation Trilogy was released , which contains the first three mixtapes and some new songs.
On May 16, 2013 Tesfaye celebrated the premiere of the title track of his first studio album Kiss Land . The album was later promoted by the singles "Belong to the World" and "Live For" with Drake. His debut album, Kiss Land , was released on September 10, 2013. In the US, 96,000 copies were sold in its first week and the album was number 2 on the Billboard 200 . It was later confirmed to have sold over 273,000 copies in the United States and received generally positive ratings from music critics.
In 2014 Tesfaye went on tour with the title King of the Fall . The tour took place across the United States in September and October. Shortly thereafter, Tesfaye released his single Often , which led to speculation that it was the first single from his second studio album. That same year he also worked with Ariana Grande on a duet called Love Me Harder , which ranked seventh on the Billboard Hot 100. Days later, he released Earned It , a single from Fifty Shades of Gray (2015). The song ranked number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.
In November 2019 Tesfaye published the single Blinding Lights , which was used in a commercial for Mercedes-Benz and with which he rose to number 1 in the singles charts in Germany for the first time in January 2020.
engagement
Tesfaye initially signed an advertising contract with H&M , but ended his collaboration with the fashion company in January 2018 after allegations of racism were raised against them.
Discography
Studio albums
| year | Title music label |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements (Year, title, music label , placements, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 DE
|
 AT
|
 CH
|
 UK
|
 US
|
R&B
|
 CA
|
|||
| 2013 | Kiss Land Republic Records / XO |
DE93 (1 week) DE |
- |
CH62 (1 week) CH |
UK12  (2 weeks)UK |
US2  (11 weeks)US |
R&B1 (39 weeks) R&B |
CA2 (3 weeks)CA |
First published: September 6, 2013
Sales: + 373,000 |
| 2015 |
Beauty Behind the Madness Republic Records / XO |
DE7th (22 weeks)DE |
AT7th (4 weeks)AT |
CH4 (22 weeks) CH |
UK1  (95 weeks)UK |
US1 × 4
(… Where.)US |
R&B1 (145 weeks) R&B |
CA1 × 5
(… Where.)CA |
First published: August 28, 2015
Sales: + 2,077,500 |
| 2016 |
Starboy Republic Records / XO |
DE10 (26 weeks)DE |
AT23 (9 weeks)AT |
CH5 (23 weeks) CH |
UK5 (67 weeks)UK |
US1 × 3
(… Where.)US |
R&B1 (103 weeks) R&B |
CA1 × 5
(… Where.)CA |
First published: November 25, 2016
Sales: + 4,420,000 |
| 2020 | After Hours Republic Records / XO |
DE5 (... weeks) DE |
AT1 (19 weeks) AT |
CH1 (... week) CH |
UK1 (… Where.)UK |
US1 (... week) US |
R&B1 (... week) R&B |
CA1 (… Where.)CA |
First published: March 20, 2020
Sales: + 312,500 |
Awards
- 2012: Serius XM Indie Awards - Urban Artist / Group or Duo of the Year
- 2012: Stereogum Awards - Top 10 New Acts of 2011
- 2014: Allan Slaight Award
- 2015: American Music Awards - Favorite Male Artist - Soul / R & B
- 2015: American Music Awards - Favorite Album - Soul / R & B
- 2016: Oscar nomination for Earned It from the movie Fifty Shades of Gray
- 2016: Grammy Awards - Best R&B Performance
- 2016: Grammy Awards - Best Urban Contemporary Album
- 2016: JUNO Awards - Album of the Year
- 2016: JUNO Awards - Single of the Year
- 2016: JUNO Awards - Artist of the Year
- 2016: JUNO Awards - Songwriter of the Year
- 2016: JUNO Awards - R & B / Soul Recording of the Year
- 2018: Grammy Awards - Best Urban Contemporary Album ( Starboy )
For an overview of all included gold and platinum awards, see The Weeknd / Awards for Music Sales .
swell
- ↑ Sex, Drugs and R&B: Inside the Weeknd's Dark Twisted Fantasy , Josh Eells, Rolling Stone, October 21, 2015
- ↑ Daily Disc: The Weeknd's 'Echoes Of Silence' . December 23, 2011. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
- ↑ a b The Weeknd Reveals How He Got His Name… And Where The 'E' Went . September 13, 2013. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
- ↑ Bella Hadid: She broke up with The Weeknd. August 6, 2019, accessed September 27, 2019 .
- ↑ Keith Urban Edges the Weeknd for No. 1 Debut on Billboard 200 . September 18, 2013. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
- ↑ H&M apologizes after accusations of racism , deutschlandfunkkultur.de, January 9, 2018, accessed on January 10, 2018
- ↑ Paul Schwenn: Racism is not the only problem at H&M , tagesspiegel.de, published and accessed on January 11, 2018
Web links
- Official website
- The Weeknd at Discogs (English)
- The Weeknd in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Music from The Weeknd
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | The Weeknd |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Tesfaye, Abel Makkonen (real name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Canadian contemporary R&B musician |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 16, 1990 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Toronto , Ontario , Canada |