“The Weeknd” is a Canadian recording artist and record producer who was born in Los Angeles. The Weeknd has a net worth of $300 million. After coming into the music industry through YouTube, The Weeknd has established himself as one of the most recognisable figures in the Hip-Hop/Rap/R&B genre, and his distinct musical approach distinguishes him from the competition.
He has sold more than 70 million recordings in the United States alone, and he has received numerous honours, including multiple Grammy Awards, for his efforts. The Weeknd has been active in a variety of entrepreneurial endeavours in addition to his music career. This involves collaborations with a variety of brands as well as the development of his own personal brand, dubbed “XO,” among other things.
Today The Weeknd is one of the highest-paid entertainers in the world, earning over $100 million annually. When The Weeknd is on the road, he may potentially earn $90 million before taxes in a single calendar year.
Early Life
On February 16, 1990, Abel Makkonen Tesfaye, better known by his stage as The Weeknd, was born in Los Angeles, California. During his childhood years in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, he was raised by his mother and grandmother following the divorce of his parents.
According to his mother’s family, The Weeknd is of Ethiopian descent, while his father’s family immigrated to Canada in the late 1980s. He did not spend much time with his father during his childhood, and the two barely saw one other once or twice a year. Religion had a significant impact on Tesfaye’s early years, and he was a regular attendee at the Ethiopian Orthodox Church in Addis Ababa.
Abel Tesfaye began using narcotics when he was 11 years old, despite his religious affiliation. What began as a marijuana smoking habit evolved into a reliance on more dangerous narcotics, and Tesfaye claimed that he committed crimes in order to fund his addiction. Despite the fact that he attended high school, he did not complete his education because he dropped out before completing his final year.
Early Career
Tesfaye explained that the inspiration for his stage name stems from the fact that he left high school and his family’s home “one weekend and never returned.” Three years after graduating from high school, he came across a producer by the name of Jeremy Rose. Rose had been toying with the notion of launching a “dark R&B” movement for quite some time, and she regarded Tesfaye as the ideal spokesperson to take the initiative. Tesfaye rapped on a number of Rose’s tracks, which were produced by the singer.
This was the point at which the musician was going by monikers such as “Kin Kane” and “The Noise.” On the condition that he be credited as a producer, Rose granted Tesfaye permission to use the songs in his production. As a result, Tesfaye posted the songs to YouTube, where they acquired an enormous amount of exposure and even caught the notice of Drake.
The Weeknd’s first significant release was a mixtape titled House of Balloons, which was released in 2013. The album includes tunes that were created with the assistance of a variety of producers, including Jeremy Rose, who was not given credit for his work because of a previous agreement. The record was a huge hit, and Drake expressed his admiration for the artist once more on the album’s release.
Drake also attended The Weeknd’s first two gigs and later approached him with the idea of collaborating with him on a project. The two Canadian artists then embarked on a joint tour, with The Weeknd serving as Drake’s opening act on the majority of dates. Following the release of two additional mixtapes, The Weeknd was approached by a number of major record labels who expressed an interest in signing him.
Breakthrough
Following a successful tour of the United States and Europe in 2012, The Weeknd formed a joint venture with Republic Records, which resulted in the launch of his own record label, XO Records. The Weeknd’s own record label, XO, operates as a subsidiary of Republic Records and is owned by the artist. Trilogy, a compilation of The Weeknd’s first three mixtapes, was released as a result of their relationship. Jeremy Rose was finally given proper credit for the music that he had written and produced. The album did well on the charts, peaking at number four on the Billboard 200 in the United States.
Kiss Land, his debut studio album, was released a year later, marking the beginning of his professional career. The album, which included Drake on numerous tracks, opened at number two on the Billboard top 200 in the United States. Following that, The Weeknd began collaborating with musicians such as Justin Timberlake and Ariana Grande and embarked on a lengthy tour of the United States and Europe.
The Weeknd’s second studio album, Beauty Behind the Madness, was released in 2015. It was the singer’s second studio album. The album sold 412,000 copies in its first week of release, propelling it to the top of the Billboard 200 chart in the United States. It ultimately achieved platinum status after selling 1.5 million copies worldwide. Shortly after, The Weeknd became the first male artist in history to occupy the top three positions on the Billboard Hot R&B Chart at the same time with three singles that went on to achieve platinum status.
The Weeknd’s next studio album, Starboy, was released in 2016. Several tracks on the album featured members of the well-known French electronica group Daft Punk, who performed on the album. After collaborating with a variety of other artists and embarking on another tour, The Weeknd released his third studio album, My Dear Melancholy, in 2018. In 2017, The Weeknd broke the Guinness World Record for the Most Streamed Album on Spotify in a Single Year.
In addition, he published his first greatest hits album, The Weeknd, in Japan in the same year. After Hours is the title of The Weeknd’s upcoming album, which will be released in 2020.
Earnings
Between the months of June 2017 and June 2018, he earned an incredible $90 million. He made a total of $40 million between the months of June 2018 and June 2019 from his numerous enterprises.
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