Birthdate: Feb 16, 1990
Birthplace: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Abel “the Weeknd” Tesfaye (birthname: Abel Makkonen Tesfaye) is one of the most acclaimed and innovative R&B singer-songwriters since 2013, when he debuted with his studio album, Kiss Land, and later parlayed his global music fame into acting, first in a small turn in Josh and Benny Safdie’s brilliant thriller-drama, Uncut Gems (2019), starring Adam Sandler, LaKeith Stanfield, Julia Fox, Kevin Garnett, Idina Menzel and Eric Bogosian, and which grossed $50 million worldwide for distributors A24 and Netflix.
Tesfaye dove head first into the movie world with the semi-autobiographical thriller associated with his album of the same title, Hurry Up Tomorrow (2025), for which he was star, co-writer, producer and composer collaborating with director/co-writer/executive producer/editor Trey Edwards Shults, and which co-starred Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan, and was released globally by Lionsgate.
Tesfaye’s first movie credit was as composer of the song, “Earned It,” for the movie version of E.L. James’s worldwide best-seller, Fifty Shades of Grey (2015), with Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan under Sam Taylor-Johnson’s direction, and for which Tesfaye received an Academy Award nomination for Best Song.
Abel Tesfaye was born and raised in Toronto, Canada, by his parents of Ethiopian heritage, father Makkonen and mother Samra. Tesfaye was raised in the Ethiopian Orthodox Christian Church. Tesfaye has been in highly publicized relationships with model Bella Hadid from 2015 to 2019; with singer-actor Selena Gomez from January to October 2017; and with Saudi-born DJ. Simi Khadra since 2022. Tesfaye’s height is 5’ 8”. Tesfaye’s estimated net worth is $300 million.
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Fluent: Abel Tesfaye is fluent in Amharic.
What’s in a Name? Tesfaye took the stage name The Weeknd, with the odd spelling, since “The Weekend” was already taken.
Hair Today…: Abel Tesfaye’s signature hair style is modelled on the hair style of late American painter, Jean-Michel Basquiat.
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