Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (born 16 February 1990), better known by his stage name The Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and record producer. The Weeknd has helped to broaden the musical palette of R&B by incorporating indie and electronic music influences; his work has been categorized as alternative R&B. The Weeknd anonymously uploaded several songs to YouTube under the name "The Weeknd" in 2010 and released the critically acclaimed mixtapes House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence in 2011.The Weeknd's mixtapes were later remastered and rereleased on the compilation album Trilogy (2012), after he signed with Republic Records and created his own record label XO. The Weeknd has had three No. 1 releases (Beauty Behind the Madness in 2015, Starboy in 2016, and My Dear Melancholy in 2018) and a No. 2 release (Kiss Land in 2013) on the US Billboard 200. He has earned eight top-ten entries on the Billboard Hot 100: "Love Me Harder" with Ariana Grande; "Earned It"; "I Feel It Coming"; "Pray for Me" with Kendrick Lamar; "Call Out My Name"; and the number one singles "The Hills", "Can't Feel My Face", and "Starboy". In 2015, The Weeknd became 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".
The Weeknd has won three Grammy Awards, eight Billboard Music Awards, two American Music Awards, nine Juno Awards, and has been nominated for one Academy Award. He has sold over 70 million records in the United States, making him one of the world's best-selling artists.
