The Weeknd’s Top 10 Interesting Facts

1. The birth name of The Weeknd

The boy was given the name Abel Makkonen Tesfaye on February 16, 1990. He has acknowledged that as a teenager, he hated his name and chose to adopt a stage identity.

According to Baby Names, “Abel” is a Biblical name that translates to “a breath” in Hebrew for his first name. His father, Makkonen Tesfaye, gave him the middle name “Makkonen,” which he now uses. According to Names.org, his last name “Tesfaye” approximately translates to “my hope.”

2. He had a single parent raise him.

After The Weeknd’s birth, his parents divorced. He saw his father very little since he was reared by his mother and grandma.

He says, “I saw him vaguely when I was six, and then again when I was 11 or 12, and he had a new family and kids.” I don’t even know where he lived, but I would only see him sometimes.

He continues, “I’m sure he’s a lovely man.” Despite their poor connection, there doesn’t appear to be hostility between them. I never condemned him. He wasn’t an asshole, he wasn’t abusive, and he wasn’t an alcoholic. He just wasn’t present.

3. The significance of his stage name

The Weeknd chose his stage name in honor of the weekend he “went one weekend and never returned home” after he left high school at the age of 17.

He referred to a member of his XO crew by saying, “I was approximately 17 when I dropped out of high school and got Lamar to do the same, haha.” “We stole our beds from our parents, placed them in the s*** van of our buddies, and fled one weekend, never returning home.”

For copyright reasons, he removed the “e.” The weekend was already the name of a Canadian band (copyright concerns), so I removed the “e.”

4. The Weeknd released songs under a variety of monikers.

Tesfaye started using the account “xoxxxoooxo” to release songs on YouTube secretly in August 2009.

Early collaborator Nixxon said that Abel and him had collaborated under the less-than-ideal moniker “Bulleez N Nerdz” in the middle of the 2000s. The fact that they were both bullies yet seemed to be nerds provided the inspiration for the name.

Abel has recorded songs under the names Kin Kane and The Noise.

5. The Weeknd speaks three languages.

The Weeknd is of Ethiopian descent since his parents, Makkonen Tesfaye and Samrawit Hailu, are immigrants from that country. His grandmother taught him Amharic, which is his native tongue, even before he learned to speak English.

Ontario, a province in Canada, was Abel’s home province. While English is the province’s official language, there are a number of French-speaking towns and cities. Later, after enrolling in a French-immersion school where speaking English would get you in trouble, he became proficient in the language.

He is also a proficient speaker of English, as shown by the fact that all of his concerts and interviews are conducted in that language.

6. Iconic dreads worn by The Weeknd

One of The Weeknd’s most noticeable features in 2015 was his hairdo. His naturally black roots and “palm tree”-shaped dreads were tinted a brown tone to create an ombre look. American artist Jean-Michel Basquiat served as the style’s primary inspiration.

In 2015, he told Rolling Stone that he wanted to maintain the hairdo since it helped him stand out. “I want to be seen as unique and iconic.” I decided to let my hair do whatever it wanted because, as he put it, “F*ck it.” If it begins to impair my vision, I’ll probably chop it off. Right now, I can sort of picture it. I would, however, look like everyone else if I chopped it. and I find that to be very dull.

In 2016, he did remove his dreads, and he was happy with his choice, stating, “The vision wasn’t there anymore.”

7. Drake received “nearly half” of one of The Weeknd’s previous albums.

In 2010, Drake shared two of The Weeknd’s tracks on his October’s Very Own blog, which served as the singer’s first introduction to his following.

Later, in 2011, when The Weeknd was promoting his first mixtape, House of Balloons, they crossed paths. Later that year, The Weeknd will contribute to Drake’s second album, Take Care. Five of the album’s 17 tracks now include Abel’s name as a songwriter.

“I abandoned over half of my album. Weeknd admits that it’s difficult.I will always be grateful; who knows where I would be if it weren’t for the light he shone on me? Moreover, everything occurs for a purpose. You never know what I might say if I didn’t now have this triumph in front of me.

8. The Weekend abstained from the Grammys.

The R&B icon was considered a serious contender in the Big Four categories, including album of the year for his fourth studio album After Hours, which spent four straight weeks at the top of the Billboard 200, as well as record of the year and song of the year for his smash hit “Blinding Lights,” which became Billboard’s biggest Hot 100 song of all time.

The Weeknd’s name was not included in the 2021 Grammy Award nominations, despite the massive popularity of his album “After Hours” and its smash songs, including the record-breaking “Blinding Lights,” on the morning of November 24, 2020.

The artist then criticized the Recording Academy over its absence on social media. He also said he would stop submitting songs to the Grammys and would skip the awards ceremony.

Surprisingly, he received three Grammy nominations for the event in 2022.

9. I had plastic surgery.The Weeknd?

The Weeknd arrived at the MTV Video Music Awards and the American Music Awards in 2020 with what seemed to be a wounded and damaged face. This sparked rumors that he was changing his look.

Later in January 2021, the musician uploaded a selfie of himself to his Instagram account that seemed to show signs of facial cosmetic surgery.

It was ultimately determined that the singer had not really had surgery or suffered any significant facial damage. Instead, he has been utilizing makeup and prosthetics to convey the sinister tale that is part of his 2019 album, After Hours.

10. Ethiopia is a major inspiration for The Weeknd’s songs.

The Weeknd’s high-flying vocal style, which is a distinctive Ethiopian singing trait, has led people to label his singing as unorthodox.

According to Hannah Giogis of Pitchfork, “his signature vibrato, the notably tormented whine that permeates most of Abel’s work, stems from a long tradition of tortured longing in Ethiopian music.” Ethiopian musical heritage is characterized by infusing our vocals with the trembling sorrow of loss, whether it be romantic or otherwise.

You could clearly hear the Ethiopian language in my song for the first time in “The Hills.”

From Haotees