1990–present
The Weeknd Now: Hurry Up Tomorrow Inspired by Star’s Real Life
Abel Tesfaye, better known as The Weeknd, is making his big-screen debut as a lead actor. The Grammy-winning singer plays a fictionalized version of himself in the new movie Hurry Up Tomorrow, in which his character goes on an existential odyssey after losing his voice on stage.
The plot stems from a real-life incident from September 2022, in which The Weeknd’s voiced failed him in the middle of a concert in Los Angeles. The ordeal triggered a mental breakdown and identity crisis that the film explores through the realm of nightmares.
Hurry Up Tomorrow, which arrived in theaters May 16, was also inspired by the 35-year-old’s experience with sleep paralysis, a condition characterized by the inability to move or speak when falling asleep or waking up.
“There are no antagonists in this film. I think that sleep paralysis is the enemy,” he told The Fader earlier this month. “They’re very vivid nightmares where you’re in bed and you’re half asleep, half awake. You’re aware of your surroundings, but you can’t move. You’re paralyzed for almost a minute. Sometimes you see a shadowy figure in the corner and you hear voices.”
The Weeknd explained that he discovered the main cause for the disorder was a lack of sleep, which is what his character deals with in the movie. “My biggest medicine for it is just turn your phone off, turn the TV off, turn all the lights off,” he said. “The irony is it’s got to all be dark and scary for you to sleep through the night.”
Who Is The Weeknd?
The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Tesfaye, is a Grammy-winning singer known for the hits “Can’t Feel My Face,” “Starboy,” and “Blinding Lights.” The Toronto native broke into the music scene with a 2011 mixtape and went on to work with Drake, Wiz Khalifa, and others while building his own music career. In 2015, The Weeknd enjoyed huge success with the Grammy-winning album Beauty Behind the Madness, which boasted his first No. 1 song “Can’t Feel My Face.” His follow-up album, 2016’s Starboy, also won a Grammy and featured collaborations with artists such as Daft Punk. In total, the R&B and pop singer has released six studio albums and earned four Grammy Awards. More recently, the artist has turned to acting in projects like the 2025 thriller Hurry Up Tomorrow, which serves as a companion piece to his latest album of the same name.
Quick Facts
FULL NAME: Abel Makkonen Tesfaye
BORN: February 16, 1990
BIRTHPLACE: Toronto, Canada
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Aquarius
Where Is The Weeknd From?
The Weeknd was born Abel Makkonen Tesfaye on February 16, 1990, in Toronto. Although he became famous by his stage name, which he used for more than a decade, the artist began using his birth name on social media in 2023. Two years later, he reaffirmed his decision to retire his stage name, signaling that he will wait until his After Hours Til Dawn Tour comes to an end in September 2025. “I think I’ve overcome every challenge as this persona,” he told Variety that January.
His parents, Makkonen and Samra Tesfaye, immigrated to Canada from Ethiopia. Makkonen left the family when Abel was only a toddler, leaving his mother and grandmother to raise the boy has had little contact with his father since.
Abel’s early musical influences ranged from traditional Ethiopian music to the Michael Jackson. In an interview with Vanity Fair, The Weeknd specifically cited the impact of Jackson’s 1979 hit “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough,” describing it as “the song that helped me find my voice. It’s the reason I sing.”
Never shy about displaying his vocal talents, The Weeknd started recording his efforts while in high school. After dropping out, he continued exploring his interest in music. It was around this time that he adopted his stage name, which was inspired by his decision to leave his childhood home on a weekend when he was 17. Since there was a Canadian rock band with the same, he took out the “e” to avoid copyright issues.
Embracing a drug-filled “no rules” lifestyle, the Weeknd moved into a one-bedroom apartment in Toronto with his friend Hyghly Alleyne. He later told The New York Times in July 2015 that his mother gave him “the worst look anyone could ever have” as he dragged his mattress out of his family home. “She looked at me like she had failed,” The Weeknd said. After getting evicted from his apartment, he told various girls he loved them so he’d have a place to stay. “There was, like, three girls that thought legit that I was their boyfriend,” he explained.
Music Career
Within a few years of leaving school, The Weeknd released his first mixtape called House of Balloons in March 2011. This, along with two more mixtapes, helped push his career forward. He worked with Drake on his 2011 album, Take Care, which featured several tracks from House of Balloons, then landed a deal with Universal’s Republic Records.
The Weeknd’s earlier mixtapes were re-released as 2012’s Trilogy, his major label debut. The compilation album soon became a platinum-selling record for the young artist. Despite his growing popularity, he managed to hide himself from the public at large by refusing interviews for a long time. Some of the mystique he built around himself was intentional, but it also reflected the shyness and insecurities that troubled him early in his career.
In September 2013, The Weeknd released his first studio album, Kiss Land, which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200. The 10-track record received generally favorable reviews and included the lead radio single “Live For” featuring Drake.
Although Drake was his most frequent collaborator, The Weeknd’s early career was marked by other joint projects. He appeared on Wiz Khalifa’s “Remember You” in 2012 and working with Rick Ross on his 2014 album, Mastermind. That same year, The Weeknd helped producer Max Martin with Ariana Grande’s hit “Love Me Harder” and also scored success with “Earned It,” the first single released from the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack that later garnered the musician an Oscar nomination for Best Original Song.
The R&B and pop singer’s true breakthrough arrived in 2015 after the release of his No. 1 album Beauty Behind the Madness. His disco-pop infused single “Can’t Feel My Face,” largely believed to be about drug use, became the unofficial song of the summer for many people, while his ballad “The Hills” also made quite an impression on music fans. Both songs topped the Billboard Hot 100.
The well-received album helped The Weeknd rack up an impressive seven nominations for the 2016 Grammy Awards. This included Album of the Year and Record of the Year for “Can’t Feel My Face.” He won neither of those prized categories but did collect trophies for Best Urban Contemporary Album and Best R&B Performance for “Earned It.”
Similar praise was in store for The Weeknd’s third album, Starboy. The November 2016 release—which featured guest appearances by Lana Del Rey, Future, Kendrick Lamar, and French electronic duo Daft Punk—led the Billboard 200, produced another No. 1 song in the title track, and landed the singer a second Grammy for Best Urban Contemporary Album.
The Weeknd hit another career high mark in April 2018 when, along with Beyoncé and Eminem, he headlined the two-weekend Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival for the first time. (He returned in 2022.) In 2019, he was back to making headlines with his music, dropping the No. 1 singles “Heartless” and “Blinding Lights,” ahead of the March 2020 release of After Hours.
The project marked his third consecutive No. 1 album. Yet despite its commercial success and overwhelmingly positive reviews, After Hours failed to earn any 2021 Grammy nominations. The snub prompted The Weeknd to boycott the awards show going forward. “Because of the secret committees, I will no longer allow my label to submit my music to the Grammys,” he said in a statement at the time. (He notably did take the Grammy stage in 2025 as one of the show’s performers.)
Amid the uproar, The Weeknd prepared for his biggest performance to date: the Super Bowl LV halftime show. The February 2021 concert in Tampa, Florida, included hits like “Starboy” and “Can’t Feel My Face.” In the process, he became the first Canadian artist to headline the halftime show solo.
Next came Dawn FM in 2022. The album peaked at an impressive No. 2 on the Billboard 200, though broke the artist’s streak of No. 1 albums. Still, The Weeknd’s popularity didn’t wane. The next year, he became the first musician to reach 100 million monthly listeners on Spotify. In honor of the record-breaking feat, he was named the most popular artist in the world by Guinness World Records in March 2023.
Around this time, The Weeknd began investing more in his acting career, but he didn’t abandon his music. His sixth full-length studio album, Hurry Up Tomorrow, arrived in January 2025. He has indicated this will be his final project under his stage name.
Hit Songs
Since his debut single “Wicked Games” came out in 2013, The Weeknd has released a number of bonafide hits. The R&B and pop singer has had 117 songs land on the Billboard Hot 100, making him one of only 21 artists to surpass 100 entries. This includes seven No. 1 hits and 20 songs in the top 10.
The Weeknd’s first song to top the Billboard chart was “Can’t Feel My Face.” The Grammy-nominated track spent three weeks at No. 1 starting in August 2015. The artists other chart-toppers are:
- “The Hills”
- “Starboy” featuring Daft Punk
- “Heartless”
- “Blinding Lights”
- “Save Your Tears” with Ariana Grande
- “Die For You” with Ariana Grande
“The Hills” topped the chart for an impressive six weeks in a row, marking a career best for The Weeknd. In a sign of his continuing appeal “Die For You” peaked at No. 1 in 2023, seven years after it was released. Yet of all his No. 1 songs, “Blinding Lights” has stood out. For five years, from 2020 to 2025, the track held the record for most weeks in the Hot 100’s top 10 at 57. That endurance led Billboard to name “Blinding Lights” the leader of its Greatest of All Time Hot 100 Songs, dating back to 1958, and the Top Hot 100 Songs of the 21st Century.
Two of The Weeknd’s songs have won Grammy Awards. In 2016, “Earned It” from the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack won for Best R&B Performance. The track also garnered the artist an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. The Weeknd’s other Grammy winner is “Hurricane,” a collaboration with Kayne West and Lil Baby. It was named the Best Melodic Rap Performance in 2022.
Some of The Weeknd’s other hits include “Call Out My Name,” “Creepin’” with Metro Boomin and 21 Savage, “I Feel It Coming” featuring Daft Punk, “Dancing in the Flames,” “Cry for Me,” and “Timeless” with Playboi Carti.
Albums
The Weeknd’s debut studio album Kiss Land came out in September 2013, but it was his sophomore effort that really put him on the map. In August 2015, the singer released Beauty Behind the Madness to much success. In one year, the record sold 1.5 million copies worldwide and is now certified multi-platinum. Both Beauty Behind the Madness and his third album Starboy won Grammys for Best Urban Contemporary Album.
In total, The Weeknd has dropped six studio albums and four EPs. His latest work, Hurry Up Tomorrow, arrived in January 2025. His albums, in order, are:
Acting Work
Despite his love for music, The Weeknd always wanted to pursue a career in cinema. “It’s always been my number one passion,” he told the Associated Press in April 2025, referring to his music career as a “little detour.”
In 2019, The Weeknd made his movie debut by playing himself in the Adam Sandler flick Uncut Gems. His went on to voice characters in the animated shows American Dad and Robot Chicken in 2020 and The Simpsons in 2022.
Amping up his acting, The Weeknd portrayed a sinister nightclub owner in HBO’s short-lived 2023 series The Idol, which he also co-wrote and executive produced. The show was the first acting gig in which he used his birth name, Abel Tesfaye.
His next project similarly drew on his musical roots. In May 2025, he produced and starred in the psychological thriller Hurry Up Tomorrow. Tesfaye played a fictionalized version of himself in the on the verge of a breakdown after losing his voice. The story is inspired by his real-life experience losing his voice onstage in 2022.
Girlfriend
The Weeknd is in a relationship with DJ and beauty entrepreneur Simi Khadra. The couple started dating in 2022 and were first spotted kissing at the singer’s birthday party that year. They have kept their relationship relatively private but made a rare public appearance together at Coachella in 2023.
Before meeting Khadra, The Weeknd was in an on-again, off-again relationship with model Bella Hadid. The pair first met when he asked her to be on the cover of his album Beauty Behind the Madness. While the cover art went in a different direction, they hit it off and started dating soon after. The Weeknd and Hadid were first seen holding hands in September 2015, and the following month, he attended the model’s birthday dinner. Despite making their first red carpet appearance at the Grammy Awards in February 2016, Hadid didn’t publicly confirm their relationship until that August. They split for the first time just months later in November.
The following year, The Weeknd briefly dated singer and actor Selena Gomez. The pair first met two years before at the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show but didn’t starting seeing other until January 2017. Their relationship lasted nine months before they went their separate ways.
Soon after his breakup with Gomez, The Weeknd rekindled his romance with Hadid, but they didn’t become Instagram official until October 2018. More than a year later, the couple broke up for good in August 2019.
Net Worth
As of May 2025, The Weeknd has an estimated net worth of $300 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.
Quotes
- When people meet me, they say that I’m really kind—contrary to a lot of my music.
- When I was making the early stuff, I never expected it to be so big. I was in my own kind of bubble. I never wanted to tour; I just wanted to create music and make a diary I could put out into the world. And sometimes, I became the characters.
- I was everything an R&B singer wasn’t. I wasn’t in shape. I wasn’t a pretty boy.
- I want to be remembered as iconic and different. So I was like, “F–– it—I’m gonna let my hair just be what it wants.”
- I don’t think I’d ever apologize for music I make, no. But there are regrets in my life, of course. And you write about it. The mind of a 19-year-old is very different from the mind of a 26-year-old. You grow.
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Catherine Caruso joined the Biography.com staff in August 2024, having previously worked as a freelance journalist for several years. She is a graduate of Syracuse University, where she studied English literature. When she’s not working on a new story, you can find her reading, hitting the gym, or watching too much TV.
