Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, known professionally as The Weeknd, is a Canadian singer-songwriter born on February 16, 1990, in Toronto, Ontario. He is renowned for his unconventional musical production, artistic reinventions, and use of the falsetto register.

He began releasing music anonymously in 2009 and co-founded the record label XO. In 2011, he released three mixtapes—House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence—which gained recognition for their blend of contemporary and alternative R&B. He signed with Republic Records to reissue the mixtapes into the compilation album Trilogy in 2012 and released his debut studio album, Kiss Land, in 2013.

His second and third studio albums, Beauty Behind the Madness and Starboy, both debuted atop the US Billboard 200. Beauty Behind the Madness yielded his first two Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles, "Can't Feel My Face" and "The Hills," while Starboy spawned two more: its title track featuring Daft Punk and "Die for You" after a 2023 remix with Ariana Grande.

He returned to alternative R&B for his debut extended play, My Dear Melancholy, in 2018, which included the US top-ten single "Call Out My Name." He explored the dream-pop and new wave genres with his fourth studio album, After Hours, which spawned the record-setting single, "Blinding Lights," and two other US number-one singles: "Heartless" and "Save Your Tears."

He began exploring dance-pop, leading to his fifth album, Dawn FM, which included the US top-ten single, "Take My Breath." In 2023, he co-created and starred in the HBO drama series The Idol, a critical failure which nonetheless saw commercial success from its accompanying soundtrack.

He has sold over 75 million records, making him one of the world's best-selling artists. He has earned seven diamond-certifications from the Recording Industry Association of America for his singles and is the first artist to simultaneously hold the top three spots on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. "Blinding Lights" became the most-streamed song in Spotify history, the best-performing song in the Billboard Hot 100's history, and the longest-charting song by a solo artist in the chart's history.

He was listed by Time as one of the world's most influential people in 2020 and was dubbed the "world's most popular artist" by Guinness World Records in 2023.

His lifestyle has evolved significantly over the years. Initially known for his heavy use of hard drugs and alcohol, he has since adopted a "sober lite" lifestyle, still drinking on occasion and using weed. He has spoken about the duality of his personas, with Abel being the person he goes home to every night and The Weeknd being the persona he adopts for work.

This separation has helped him maintain a balance between his personal and professional life. Tesfaye has also been recognized for his charitable work, receiving the Quincy Jones Humanitarian Award during the Inaugural Black Music Action Coalition Awards.

In his personal life, he has been in high-profile relationships with runway model Bella Hadid and pop star Selena Gomez. He is currently single.

His career is marked by numerous accolades. He has won four Grammy Awards, 20 Billboard Music Awards, 22 Juno Awards, six American Music Awards, three MTV Video Music Awards, a Latin Grammy Award, and has been nominated for an Academy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award.

His best songs include "Blinding Lights," "Save Your Tears," "After Hours," "Starboy," "The Hills," "Heartless," "I Feel It Coming," "Can't Feel My Face," "In Your Eyes," and "Earned It."