Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990). He is the only child of Makkonen and Samra Tesfaye, who were Ethiopian immigrants to Canada in the late 1980s. Tesfaye was raised by his grandmother and mother after his parents split up. While living with his grandmother Tesfaye learned Amharic, which he also spoke with his mother and attended Ethiopian Orthodox church services. Today Abel is known professionally as the Weeknd, Canadian singer, songwriter, and record producer. He began his recording career in 2010, anonymously uploading several songs to YouTube. The Weeknd has won three Grammy Awards, two American Music Awards, nine Billboard Music Awards, two MTV Video Music Awards, nine Juno Awards, and has been nominated for an Academy Award.[5] He holds several chart records, being the first artist to simultaneously hold the top three positions on the Billboard Hot R&B Songs chart with “Can’t Feel My Face”, “Earned It”, and “The Hills”.
One of the most successful Canadian recording artists, the Weeknd in April 2020, raised money for MusiCares Coronavirus Relief Fund, which is a campaign launched by the Grammys to help musicians affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. It was announced that 100% of the proceeds from sales of cotton masks were donated to the relief fund. On August 7, 2020, Tesfaye held an interactive virtual concert on TikTok, The Weeknd Experience, to raise funds for the Equal Justice Initiative. Five days later, it was reported to have drawn in 2 million viewers and raised over $350,000 for the non-profit organization.
