Abel Tesfaye – better known as The Weeknd – celebrated his birthday this week, but how much do you know about the record-breaking music star?
The Weeknd is one of the biggest recording artists of the 21st century, with his songs and albums selling in vast amounts all over the world and being streamed billions of times since he started putting out music in 2011.
Real name Abel Tesfaye, The Weeknd celebrated his birthday in the past couple of days, turning 36. Still at the peak of his powers, The Weeknd is set to break more records in the coming years.
But how much do you know about The Weeknd? Here are some facts you might not know.
Why he’s The Weeknd
Ever since his earliest recordings, Abel has used the name ‘The Weeknd’. He has said in a rare interview in a Reddit Q&A that he took a stage name because at the time, he hated his own name. He chose ‘The Weeknd’ as his stage name as, apparently, he left home one weekend at age 17 and never returned. He moved into an apartment with two friends.
He spells it Weeknd for a simple reason – copyright issues. There is already a Canadian band called The Weekend so, to avoid any possibly of confusion – or legal issues – Abel simply dropped the third ‘e’ from the word.
He’s inspired by his Ethiopian roots
The Weeknd was born in Toronto, Canada to Ethiopian parents. He was brought up by his mother and grandmother, and through them he grew up listening to a range of Ethiopian artists, such as Aster Aweke and Mahmoud Ahmed. He has called these artists ‘subconscious inspirations’. He has also said you can hear the Ethiopian influence in his singing voice – he has also used the Ethiopian language on some tracks.
He faked having plastic surgery
During promotional work for his 2020 smash hit album After Hours, The Weeknd appeared with a bruised face, then with his face covered in bandages. When the video for Save Your Tears dropped, he unveiled a new look, with his face heavily surgically modified.
But this wasn’t real – in the video he used prosthetics to create the look. The Weeknd said the stunt was to highlight the absurdity of Hollywood celebrity and people manipulating themselves for superficial reasons or to try and be validated by others.
He boycotted the Grammys
The Grammys are one of the biggest nights in the music business, but The Weeknd boycotted them for several years in protest after his album After Hours, and single Blinding Lights – both of which had been massive hits in 2020 – were snubbed by The 2021 Grammy Awards. The Weeknd called the Recording Academy “corrupt” after the snub, vowing to never submit his work for the awards again.
However, it seems that relations between the Weeknd and the Recording Academy have thawed recently. Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr has worked on issues of transparency and inclusivity, and in 2025, The Weeknd performed Timeless with Playboi Carti at the 2025 awards.
His movie bombed at the box office
Like many recording artists, The Weeknd has had a go at acting. And, like many before him, it hasn’t gone as well as hoped.
His movie from last year, Hurry Up Tomorrow, bombed at the box office, taking just $7.8 million – just over half its budget, despite also starring rising stars Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan.
The critics weren’t kind either, describing it as a ‘navel-gazing vanity project, and more of an extended music video to promote the accompanying album. On Rotten Tomatoes, just 14% of 91 critics were positive about it.
He holds some big music records
But The Weeknd probably doesn’t mind too much about the movies as his music has broken records. Among the records he holds is that After Hours is the most streamed R&B album of all time, and the tour of it, After Hours til Dawn is the highest grossing by a male artist ever. In addition, Blinding Lights is the most streamed song of all time, with more than 5 billion streams. The same song also had the longest run in the Global 10 top chart (446 days).
