The Weeknd Trivia: 30 interesting facts about the artist!

The Weeknd is a Canadian singer, songwritter and record producer. Let’ see some amazing trivia and facts about him!

1.He was born on 16 February 1990.

2. His real name is  Abęl Makkonen Tesfaye

3. He is of Ethiopian descent.

4. His parents, Makkonen and Samra, migrated from Ethiopia in the 1980s

5. 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. Because of this, Tesfaye speaks fluent Amharic; it was the first language he learned

6. His grandmother would take him to services at their Ethiopian Orthodox church.

7. 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”.

8. The spelling was modified to avoid trademark issues with a Canadian band already named The Weekend.

9. Tesfaye met producer Jeremy Rose, who had an idea for a dark R&B musical project called “The Weeknd”.

10. 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. He produced three songs – “What You Need”, “Loft Music”, and “The Morning” – and others that Tesfaye rapped on, which Rose ultimately scrapped. Rose let Tesfaye keep the tracks he had produced under the condition that he would ultimately be credited for them.

11. However, in December 2010, Tesfaye uploaded “What You Need”, “Loft Music”, and “The Morning” to YouTube under the name “The Weeknd”, though his identity was initially unknown.

12. The songs drew attention online through word of mouth, including a blog featuring the songs posted by rapper Drake, who also helped generate interest in The Weeknd.

13. They subsequently received coverage from outlets such as Pitchfork Media and The New York Times.

14. In April 2012, The Weeknd began his U.S. tour by performing at the Coachella Festival.

15. 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.

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

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17. He often says it was Jackson’s music that made him want to be a singer, and the lyrics to “Dirty Diana”

18. He also said his high-flying vocal style was influenced by habesha singers like Aster Aweke.

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

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

21. J. D. Considine finds his singing’s “tremulous quality” similar to Michael Jackson, but writes that he eschews Jackson’s “strong basis in the blues” for a more Arabic-influenced melisma.

22. Marc Hogan of Spin says that The Weeknd’s samples tend “to draw from rock critic-approved sources, though generally ones that already share elements of his sexual menace”, with samples of artists such as Beach House, Siouxsie and the Banshees, and Aaliyah.

23. The Weeknd has received praise from many musical artists. Veteran artist Baby face.

24. Drake, Nick Jonas, Tove Lo have cited him as a musical influence.

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25. 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”.

26. 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

27. “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.

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

29. 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.

30. The Weeknd is in a relationship with 18-year-old model Bella Hadid, the sister of Gigi Hadid.

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