When Abel Tesfaye posted anonymous songs matching R&B and pop on YouTube, he had no idea that he would be noticed by Drake and that he would become one of the biggest artists of recent years. Born in Canada and raised by mother and grandmother Ethiopia In the suburbs, The Weeknd had a troubled adolescence and ended up dropping out of school and leaving home at just 17 years old. However, despite the typical dark themes of their songs that reflect this period, the voice do cantor e a atmospheric sound of the compositions quickly stood out in the industry. To celebrate your 34 yearsAntena 1 remembers the artist’s trajectory.
After working in an American department store and having financial difficulties, Abel founded his own record label in 2011, in XO. With her, the singer produced his first mixtape: House of Balloons, which was released for free at the time on the artist’s website. It is still recognized today as one of the pioneers of alternative R&B, mixing elements of the genre with soul, indie rock and electronica. The mix includes the singles “Wicked Games” e “The Morning”, which were later marketed as part of Abel’s first major release. Trilogythe House of Balloons compilation album featuring “Thursday” and “Echoes of Silence”, two other mixtapes, was later released in 2011.
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The singer spent the next year performing his first live performances, including collaborating with Drake on his OVO Festival. This partnership also generated Abel’s participation in the artist’s second studio album in music Crew Love. Em 2013The Weeknd released his debut studio album: Kiss Land. However, despite his growing audience, he failed to catch on outside of his fan base. The artist then spent the following year with the help of his record label in crafting his music and ended up creating a professional relationship with renowned Swedish producer Max Martin. The result was his first hit to enter the top 10 of the Billboard 100: “Love me Harder,” a duet with pop star Ariana Grande.
From then on his success began to skyrocket. His second album, Beauty Behind the Madness (2015), reached first place in the Billboard 200 and includes the singles “Earned It”, “The Hills” e “Can’t Feel My Face“. These accumulate today more than 1 billion of views on Youtube. The three hits were simultaneously in the top three places on the chart Billboard Hot R&Bmaking Abel the first artist in history to achieve this record. The album also earned the singer his first Grammys for best R&B performance and best urban contemporary album.
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In 2016, The Weeknd not only released his most listened to album to date, but created a lifestyle with “Starboy”, promoting an image of a playboy and womanizer. The composition and lyrics formed a much more positive and upbeat style than their previous releases. With the collaboration of Kendrick Lamar, Lana Del Rey and Daft Punk, the album was a commercial success and won its third Grammy for the Best Contemporary Album. It was followed by the release of the EP “My Dear Melancholy” (2018), which reached the number 1 no Billboard 200 and it was his third consecutive album to reach that level.
Already in 2020came what journalists described as the reinvention of The Weeknd and one of his best works. After Hours brought a strong message of heartbroken, loneliness, promiscuity, self-loathing and regret. O cinematographic e introspective The album was critically acclaimed and debuted at the top of the charts, even earning a halftime show at the Super Bowl. Always maintaining the same look as yours red suit throughout the album’s promotional material, Abel tells a story with a psychedelic aesthetic inspired by several films. Among his singles, “Blinding Lights” was elected by Billboard such as best song of all timein a list that includes great legends such as the Beatles, Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson.
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His last release was 2022, Dawn FM it was described as a “dance party in purgatory” and was narrated by Jim Carrey. Abel described the album’s concept as a journey towards “the light at the end of the tunnel, serving as a continuation of”After Hours“. The disc contains songs dance-pop e synthpop which are heavily inspired by the new wave, funk and electronic dance music styles of the 80s. With the singles “Take My Breath”, “Sacrifice”, “Out of Time” e “Less Than Zero”, the album was acclaimed by music critics for its production and melodies.
And currently the Canadian has given indications that the highest volume of his artistic trilogy is coming. Abel posted a carousel of images with the cover of “After Hours”, from 2020, “Dawn FM“, of 2022, and an interrogation, raising suspicions about comes next. “I’m finishing the third part of this saga, this trilogy. The name will be out soon, but the name won’t be what some of the fans think it is…What they think it is is actually one of the songs on the album, but not the title of the album. I’m just going to say that,” he said in an interview. The aforementioned speculation refers to the name ‘After Life’, which would mean the end of the life of the alter ego created by Abel.