ZENE: The Weeknd

“I want to be remembered as iconic and different” The Weeknd is an award-winning Canadian R&B singer, songwriter, and producer, often compared vocally to Michael Jackson. Beginning his career by uploading songs to YouTube he became well known on the music scene soon with his mixtape House of Balloons and interest from superstar Drake. His success grew and he is now one of the top-selling artists worldwide, known for hits such as Can’t Feel My Face and Blinding Lights – which as of January 2023 is Spotify’s most streamed song ever. His albums Beauty Behind the Madness, and Starboy both won Grammys. Background Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, professionally known as The Weeknd, was born on February 16th 1990 in Toronto, Canada. He is the only child of Ethiopian immigrants Makkonen and Samrawit Tesfaye who separated shortly after he was born, with his father leaving the family. He was raised by his mother and grandmother in the district of Scarborough on the outskirts of Toronto. He did not see much of his father. Tesfaye learned his native language Amharic from his grandmother and can speak French as he went to a French-immersion school. Later going to West Hill and Birchmount Park Collegiate Institutes before dropping out of school […]