Getty Images The Weeknd.
The Weeknd, whose real name is Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, was born on February 16, 1990; he will turn 31 in just about a week.
The Weeknd has 44 gold or platinum-certified singles and albums over the past decade. He also has a handful of movie and television credits to his name, including the 2019 Adam Sandler film Uncut Gems.
The “Blinding Lights” singer is excited to take the stage at this year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, and it sounds like he has something big planned.
“I definitely want to be respectful to the viewers at home. I will still incorporate some of the story line [from the videos] — it’s a very cohesive story I’m telling throughout this year, so the story will continue, but we definitely will keep it PG-[rated] for the families. I’ll try my best,” he told the NFL Network. He also said that he won’t be bringing any special guests on stage with him.
The Weeknd recently revealed that he will be heading out on a multi-city tour in 2022.
Here’s what you need to know:
The Weeknd Was Born & Raised in Canada, but He’s of Ethiopian Descent
The Weeknd was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. His parents were Ethiopian immigrants who split when he was very young. He was primarily raised by his mother and his grandmother. He grew up speaking more than one language at home, which he talked about in an interview last year.
“Ethiopian — Amharic — was the first language I learned to form sentences in because my grandma, who raised me with my mom, would not speak English. Because of television and being in Canada, I learned English too, but I went to French-immersion school, where you’d get in trouble for speaking English, and I couldn’t speak it to my grandma, so it’s almost like English is my third language, even though now it’s my first,” he told Variety.
Back in 2015, The Weeknd sat down for a chat with Pitchfork in which he shared that he drew on his Ethiopian heritage when it came to his music.
“The feeling in my music and in my voice is very Ethiopian and very African and much more powerful than anything, technically. There are songs like ‘Gone’ where I don’t even know what I’m saying—I let my voice do all the talking. I’ll probably do an album like that one day where it’s not lyrics at all, just melodies and great production,” he told the outlet.
The Weeknd Recently Opened up About Turning 30
The Weeknd celebrated a cool milestone birthday in 2020, turning 30 just before the coronavirus pandemic took the world by storm and required people all over the world to quarantine.
“I think people say your 30s are your best years because you’re becoming the person you’re supposed to be. And this is the beginning of not just a new chapter but my second decade [as a performer]. I feel like my career is just starting,” The Weeknd told Variety.
The Weeknd isn’t doing too bad for himself, either. His net worth is estimated at $100 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. He recently listed his Los-Angeles-area mansion for sale for $22 million. According the the New York Post, the 12,547-square-foot abode located in the Hidden Hills boasts seven bedrooms, nine and a half bathrooms, and a full-sized basketball court.
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