The Weeknd, a stage name for Canadian musician and producer Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, became well-known after posting several of his songs on YouTube. Many people admired his dark R&B sound, and in 2012 he signed with Republic Records. Two years after the release of his wildly popular second studio album Beauty Behind the Madness, The Weeknd’s debut studio album, Kiss Land, was released.
Starboy, The Weeknd’s third studio album, took home the Grammy Award for Best Urban Contemporary Album in 2018. Five American Music Awards, three Grammy Awards, and nine Billboard Music Awards are among his accomplishments. Recently, The Weeknd shocked everyone with a distinctive and divisive half-time Super Bowl performance.
Where was The Weeknd born? Ethnicity, Nationality, Family, Education
The parents of The Weeknd split up soon after arriving in Canada from Ethiopia. Makkonen and Samra Tesfaye, the parents of The Weeknd, left Ethiopia in the late 1980s owing to civil unrest and severe famine. The Weeknd was born on February 16, 1990, in Toronto, Ontario, where they eventually made their home.
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Samra and Makkonen never got remarried or had another kid. When Abel was a young child, they split up. In the Toronto neighborhood of Scarborough, Samra raised Abel with the aid of his grandmother. Samra supported Abel and paid for his education by working various jobs.
While Samra worked a lot, Abel spent a lot of time with his grandma. His devoted grandma taught him Amharic. The Weeknd called Samra “a terrific mom, very protective, extremely cultured” in an interview with The Guardian, but she was powerless to stop him from quitting school at the age of 17.
At the age of 11, The Weeknd took his first marijuana hit, which marked the beginning of a dark journey. He immediately transitioned to harder drugs, and to maintain his addiction, he committed shoplifting and used welfare checks to purchase Xanax, cocaine, and ecstasy. At the age of 17, Abel and his best friend drove to his house, stole his mattress, and left to live in Toronto’s Parkdale neighborhood.
As Samra’s lone kid departed to live among “students and crackheads,” he could only watch helplessly.
The New York Times quoted Abel as saying,
“The ugliest look somebody could ever have.” “She gave me a defeated look,” I said. Abel ultimately stopped using drugs, restarted his music career, and got back in touch with his mother. He told Rolling Stone, “I get everything nice from my mum.
The Weeknd’s estranged father stated that he would like to see his son again.
Makkonen rarely expressed interest in Abel’s life after he and Samra split up. When I was six years old and again when I was 11 or 12, he had a new family and children, Abel said to Rolling Stone.
Abel never harbored resentment or judgment toward Makkonen despite his absence. The Weeknd added,
“I’m sure he’s a good man. He wasn’t an asshole, he wasn’t abusive, and he wasn’t an alcoholic. He simply wasn’t present.
Makkonen told Radar in 2017 that he wanted to see Abel again. He spoke of wanting to “build a bridge between me and my son.
” I truly regret not being there for him when he needed me the most, and I want more than anything that I could make up for a lost time,” Makkonen said.
Abel and Makkonen had not seen one another before the interview, which took place after 14 years. During Abel’s concerts, Makkonen has been sighted in the backstage area. The likelihood that the two got back in touch after more than ten years apart is therefore very high.
Mother of Abel wouldn’t discuss life in Ethiopia. About the family’s life in Ethiopia, Abel’s mother remained silent. His relatives gave him some information about the nation, but his mother never did. To Rolling Stone, he stated:
“I recall listening to several stories from my relatives; they would chat while chewing khat. But I doubt my mother intended to share such tales. I don’t believe Ethiopians want their children to think poorly of their country.
The Red Terror, a slaughter of tens of thousands of people in Ethiopia, forced Abel’s parents to flee.
Abel in Canada questioned his mother’s decision not to give him a brother. Abel said, “I always wanted a sibling so I’d have someone to play with. Because of how badly I desired a brother, “I remember telling people that I had brothers.”
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