Music critics called The Weeknd a quality "product" of the modern era. The singer is not particularly modest and admits to reporters: "I knew that I would become popular."
The Weeknd became popular almost immediately after he posted the compositions on the Internet. At the moment, The Weeknd is the most popular R&B and pop artist. To make sure that the guy is worthy of attention, just listen to a few of his songs: High For This, Shameless, Devil May Cry.
How was The Weeknd's childhood and youth?
Abel Makkonen Tesfaye is the real name of the artist. He was born in 1990 to a poor immigrant family. The future star had a very poor family. He was raised by his mother and grandmother. In order to somehow feed the family, my mother had to work day and night.
The Weeknd admits that he suffered from attention deficit disorder as a child and teenager. At school age, he was not in the most favorable company. For the first time he tried cigarettes, then there were spirits and soft drugs. Abel did not consider it necessary to attend school, so he decided to leave the educational institution.
At the age of 17, Abel began to dream of a big stage. He rubbed old records to holes and enthusiastically listened to the tracks of modern artists. The young guy worked as a salesman in a clothing store. Abel recalls:
“I was setting up my shop window, I had headphones in my ears, in which some kind of rock composition sounded. At that moment, I was transported in my dreams to the stage and began to sing along to the singer. When I opened my eyes, I saw the first “fans” watching me. That's such a success."
In the evening, Abel, along with friends, organized concerts for selected listeners. Once the guys took part in a mini-music festival. There The Weeknd met producer Jeremy Rose, who opened up new perspectives and possibilities. Then Jeremy was just developing as a producer. Therefore, the guys decided to support themselves and started working on the first singles.
Jeremy was captivated by the talent of The Weeknd. Rose invited the young performer to perform several compositions that were written for another vocalist. The Weeknd rose to the challenge by performing and recording the tracks. The first musical compositions were so successful that they brought the guys to the path of glory.
The beginning of The Weeknd's musical career
The Weeknd confidently went to the musical Olympus. The singer very quickly decided on the style of performance. Instrumental compositions, which are complemented by modern processing in combination with the powerful vocals of the performer, make a pleasant impression of the singer.
The first powerful musical compositions of the singer were the tracks: Loft Music, The Morning and What You Need. The Weeknd became successful. And at that time, Jeremy Rose began to lose ground, demanding that The Weeknd rename the names, supplementing it with his own name.
The Weeknd sees himself as a solo artist, so he turned down Rose. Because of this conflict, Jeremy and The Weeknd stopped working together.
In 2010, The Weeknd posted previously recorded compositions to YouTube. For a short period of time, the tracks became popular. The number of viewers increased, users began to post links with tracks on their pages.
Everyone wanted to see the author of musical compositions. The Weeknd woke up famous.
Release of the debut album House of Balloons
In 2011, the performer delighted fans with the release of his debut mixtape House of Balloons. The compositions received flattering reviews from music critics. Needless to say, the number of fans of The Weeknd's work has increased a thousand times?
After the release of his debut mixtape, the singer went on his first tour. Touring is a great opportunity to show yourself. This benefited the young performer. After the tour, journalists lined up to interview the singer. But he refused to talk to the press.
“All information about me can be found on Twitter,” commented the singer. At the end of 2011, the singer released several more mixtapes - Thursday and Echoes of Silence.
Popularity could not go unnoticed by serious producers. The artist signed his first contract with Republic Records. Under the direction of the producers who helped create the first record, Trilogy's first debut album appeared.
The debut album went platinum several times in Canada. The number of sold copies of the album exceeded 1 million. It was a well-deserved success.
In 2013, he pleased his fans with the release of a new album. But before that, he released several top tracks that "blew up" the world of music. Tracks Belong to the World and Live For for a long time occupied a leading position in the charts in America, Canada, Great Britain and France.
In 2014, the singer went on a world tour. Then the performer recorded the soundtrack Earned It for the film "50 Shades of Grey". The track took one of the first places in terms of the number of downloads. It was a hit that was worthy of attention.
In 2016, the third album of the artist Starboy was released. Like previous records, the album turned out to be of the same quality. Tracks Starboy, Reminder, Secrets and False Alarm were very successful. And thanks to them, The Weeknd gained new fans.
The Weeknd now
The young performer, who literally lives for music, announced in 2019 that he would soon prepare a new album. From recent works there are video clips: Call Out My Name and Lost in the Fire.
Fans of the talent of the young singer have to be "on standby".
In 2020, the artist presented one of the most powerful LPs of his discography. The tracks that led the collection included four eras at once. This is the singer's fourth album. After Hours received warm reviews not only from fans, but also from music critics.
On March 21, 2021, the Canadian singer re-released the album House Of Baloons. The artist's compilation appeared in the form in which it was released in 2011. The mixtape was topped by 9 tracks.
The Weeknd and Ariana Gradne in the spring of 2021, they presented a joint venture. The musicians' single was called Save Your Tears. On the day of the release of the single, the premiere of the video clip took place.
The Weeknd in 2022
In early January 2022, the premiere of the artist's fifth studio album, The Weeknd, took place. It was released on January 7, 2022 via XO and Republic labels. The singer was working on the record in the period 2020-2021. Dawn FM was warmly received by music critics and fans. Compositions in longplay have the character of psychedelic broadcasting.
