50 facts about The Weeknd: he is of Ethiopian descent

The songs have held down all of the top three spots on the Billboard Hot R&B Songs chart, making him the first artist in history to achieve this. Learn 50 facts about The Weeknd.

1. Abel Tesfaye is known by his stage name The Weeknd.

2. In late 2010, Tesfaye anonymously uploaded several songs to YouTube under the name "The Weeknd".

3. He released three nine-track mixtapes throughout 2011: House of Balloons, Thursday and Echoes of Silence, which were critically acclaimed.

4. In 2013, he released his debut studio album Kiss Land, which was supported by the singles "Kiss Land" and "Live For".

5. His second album, Beauty Behind the Madness, which became his first number one album on the Billboard 200, produced top-five singles including: "Earned It", "The Hills", and the number-one single "Can't Feel My Face".

6. The songs have held down all of the top three spots on the Billboard Hot R&B Songs chart, making him the first artist in history to achieve this.

7. The Weeknd has received praise from several music publications, including Pitchfork, MTV, BET, Rolling Stone, XXL and The Source.

8. Tesfaye was born on February 16, 1990 in Scarborough, Ontario.

9. He is of Ethiopian descent.

10. His parents migrated from Ethiopia in the 1980s.

11. He grew up listening to a variety of music genres, including soul, quiet storm, hip hop, funk, indie rock, and post-punk.

12. Since Tesfaye's father was never around when he was growing up, and his mother was constantly working, his grandmother took care of him most of his young life.

13. Tesfaye speaks fluent Amharic; it was the first language he learned.

14. Tesfaye says he adopted the stage name, "The Weeknd," after dropping out of high school at the age of 17 and, along with a fellow crew-member, "left one weekend and never came home."

15. The spelling of his stage name was modified to avoid copyright issues with a Canadian band already named the Weekend.

16. In Toronto, Tesfaye met producer Jeremy Rose, who had an idea for a dark R&B musical project called "The Weeknd".

17. After trying to pitch the idea to musician Curtis Santiago, Rose played one of his instrumentals for Tesfaye, who freestyled over it, and they began working on an album.

18. On March 21, 2011, Tesfaye released the nine-track mixtape House of Balloons for free through his website.

19. House of Balloons was met with critical acclaim, and was named as one of ten shortlisted nominees for the 2011 Polaris Music Prize.

20. He collaborated with rapper Drake and appeared as one of the special guests to Drake's second Annual OVO Fest on July 31, 2011.

21. During the summer, the press noted that The Weeknd refused to participate in interviews and chose to only communicate via Twitter.

22. His second mixtape Thursday was released on August 18, 2011, as a free digital download from The Weeknd's website, and was well received by critics.

23. The Weeknd's third mixtape, titled Echoes of Silence, was released on December 21, 2011. Upon this release, the three 2011 mixtapes were collectively known as the Balloons Trilogy, each receiving critical acclaim and growing Tesfaye's fanbase.

24. In April 2012, The Weeknd began his US tour by performing at the Coachella Festival. He and his band visited various major cities, and culminated in New York, where two sold-out shows were positively reviewed by Rolling Stone.

25. Tesfaye and his tour band continued in major European festivals, including the Primavera Sound Festivals in Spain and Portugal, Wireless Festival in London, plus concerts in Paris and Brussels.

26. At his debut UK show in London, he covered Michael Jackson's "Dirty Diana" in front of an audience which included Katy Perry and Florence Welch.

27. In September 2012, the Weeknd signed with Republic Records in a joint venture with his own imprint label XO.

28. In December, the BBC announced that the Weeknd had been nominated for the Sound of 2013 poll.

29. In May 2013, Trilogy was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America and double platinum by Music Canada.

30. The Weeknd also appeared on the soundtrack to The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, contributing "Devil May Cry" and featuring on "Elastic Heart" by Sia, the second single from the soundtrack.

31. In February 2014, The Weeknd remixed the Beyoncé single "Drunk in Love." The remix was more of a cover, as The Weeknd tweaked the beat to fit better with his version of the song, that is told through the male perspective.

32. On June 26, 2014, The Weeknd announced that he will be headlining the King of the Fall tour, essentially a mini-tour across America in September and October 2014.

33. On September 30, 2014, the song "Love Me Harder" was released which is a duet between The Weeknd and Ariana Grande, the song went on to peak at number seven on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

34. On December 23, 2014, he released "Earned It", the song was released as a single from the 2015 film Fifty Shades of Grey, which has peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. The Weeknd performed a rendition of the song alongside Alicia Keys at the 2015 BET Awards.

35. On June 8, "Can't Feel My Face", one of the leaked tracks, was officially released as a second single following a performance of the song by The Weeknd at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference on the same day. The song debuted at number 24 on the Billboard Hot 100, and reached number-one on the Hot 100, making it his third top 10 hit and his first number-one hit in the United States.

36. In a photoshoot for GQ, The Weeknd modeled a preview of Kanye West's new Yeezy Collection for Adidas in the September issue.

37. Following the announcement of the launch of Apple's new streaming service, Apple Music, it was unveiled that The Weeknd has joined as a one of the musical faces alongside frequent collaborator Drake.

38. During the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards, Apple debuted a two-part promotional commercial featuring The Weeknd and a guest appearance from John Travolta.

39. On August 28, 2015, The Weeknd's second studio album, Beauty Behind the Madness, was released and debuted atop of Billboard 200 with first weeks sales of 412,000 equivalent album units earned (with 326,000 from pure album sales).

40. On the week of September 8, 2015, The Weeknd became the first male artist in nearly seven years with two songs on the Hot 100's top three in the same week, with "Can't Feel My Face" at #2 and "The Hills" at #3, both as a lead act.

41. The Weeknd has been featured in several collaborations this year, including Belly's "Might Not", Meek Mill's "Pullin Up" and Travis Scott's "Pray 4 Love".

42. On October 10, 2015, The Weeknd will join actress Amy Schumer on Saturday Night Live as a musical guest. This will be The Weeknd's first performance on the show as a solo artist after appearing during Ariana Grande's set for their "Love Me Harder" collaboration.

43. The Weeknd cites R. Kelly, Michael Jackson and Prince as his main inspirations.

44. The Weeknd's songs are "built around a fogged, crepuscular production", and feature slow tempos, rumbling bass, and forlorn echoes.

45. The Weeknd sings in a falsetto register, and exhibits a pleading, anxious tone.

46. His music incorporates samples that are unconventional in R&B production, including punk and alternative rock.

47. The Weeknd worked mostly with producers Illangelo and Doc McKinney, whom Pitchfork Media's Ian Cohen credits with developing "a state-of-the-art R&B template" with The Weeknd.

48. In concert, The Weeknd reappropriates his digitized productions with a suite-like arena rock aesthetic.

49. Music journalists associate The Weeknd with PBR&B, an emerging wave of recording artists whose music expands on the sound and sensibility of R&B.

50. Nick Jonas dubbed The Weeknd as one of his influences for his sophomore solo album Nick Jonas in a interview with Fuse.

Source: Wikipedia.org