Photos: The Wild, Improbable Rise of the Weeknd
The Weeknd began 2022 with a bold announcement. “Happy New Year! Everything feels chaotic again. Music can heal and that feels more important than another album rollout,” he typed in a text-message screenshot on Instagram. “Let’s just drop the whole thing and enjoy it with the people… XO.” Days later, he followed through with a full title and tracklist for Dawn FM, his fifth studio album, out Jan. 7.
That kind of confidence comes naturally for someone who can count on near-certain streaming success for anything he releases. But it’s also part of what got him those hits in the first place. Abel Tesfaye does things his own way — whether that meant hiding his face in 2011, singing about how he couldn’t feel it in 2015, or wrapping it in stage bandages in 2020. His moody, character-driven songwriting has exerted a huge influence on the sound of pop over the past decade, but he’s also collaborated with glossy Top 40 monoliths like Max Martin when it suits him. Here are 24 photos that trace one of modern music’s most remarkable careers.
-
In the Beginning
Image Credit: Clinton Gilders/FilmMagic 2011 was the year that changed everything for the Weeknd: With three EPs full of dark, gothic mystique, and a strict refusal to do photo shoots, he was the hottest underground sensation around. Soon he was hanging out with fellow Torontonian Drake, who brought him out to perform at the second annual OVO Festival that summer.
-
Coachella
Image Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images By 2012, the Weeknd was becoming a familiar face as he climbed to bigger stages — like this daytime slot at that spring’s Coachella festival.
-
London
Image Credit: Ian West/PA Wire/AP His music was making international waves now, and that summer he shared the stage with Drake at another festival in London’s Hyde Park.
-
Kiss Land
Image Credit: Owen Sweeney/Invision/AP In 2013, the Weeknd released his full-length studio debut, Kiss Land. It’s a cult favorite for fans, but it didn’t generate much in the way of mainstream hits. “Kiss Land wasn’t about what people wanted to hear on the radio,” he admitted to Rolling Stone two years later. “It was the state of mind I was in — introverted, like David Cronenberg’s Naked Lunch. You didn’t know if you were hearing a chorus or a verse. It was just my thoughts.”
-
Toronto’s Finest
Image Credit: Ollie Millington/WireImage Still, the Weeknd’s core fanbase was more devoted than ever. He showed up to help celebrate Drake’s success when the Nothing Was the Same world tour came to Nottingham, England in March 2014.
-
Breaking Through
Image Credit: Matt Sayles/Invision/AP The Weeknd was still looking for an undeniable single to take his career to the next level — and he found it in 2014, when he dueted with Ariana Grande on the Max Martin-produced “Love Me Harder.” The song was a huge hit, showing his willingness to go fully pop, and it took him to places like the American Music Awards, pictured here.
-
Getting Bigger
Image Credit: Christopher Polk/Getty Images The Weeknd performed after dark on day two of Coachella 2015. (The next night’s headliner? His old pal Drake.)
-
Top of the World
Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/LP5/WireImage The Weeknd followed through with a string of Top Ten hits and the blockbuster album Beauty Behind the Madness in 2015. The biggest single of all was “Can’t Feel My Face,” the absurdly catchy Max Martin collaboration that rocketed to Number One that year. It was such a phenomenon that Taylor Swift brought him out for a special performance at her 1989 stadium tour in New Jersey. “At one point, I didn’t care,” the Weeknd said. “Now I want as many people to hear my music as possible.”
-
Fire
Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/MTV1415/WireImage Everything was turning up Weeknd. Later that year, he rocked the 2015 MTV Video Music Awards with a performance of “Can’t Feel My Face.”
-
Angels
Image Credit: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP He rounded out the fall with a fireworks-enhanced performance at the 2015 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show. The song? You guessed it: “Can’t Feel My Face.”
-
Royalty
Image Credit: Kevin Mazur/AMA2015/WireImage When the Weeknd won an American Music Award in November 2015, none other than Prince was on hand to present him with the crystal trophy. It was Prince’s last televised appearance. The Weeknd later called it “the greatest experience of my entire life.”
-
Grammy Night
Image Credit: Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP The Weeknd picked up a pair of Grammys in February 2016 for “Earned It” (Best R&B Performance) and Beauty Behind the Madness (Best Urban Contemporary Album). They were his first wins, and backstage he happily posed for the cameras with the trophies.
-
Party Time
Image Credit: Jamel Johnson/Media Punch/IPX/AP The Weeknd hung out with Future and Naomi Campbell at an afterparty for the 2016 Met Gala. He would later affectionally call the supermodel his “big sis.”
-
Stars Align
Image Credit: Alberto E. Tamargo/SIPA USA/AP The Weeknd’s third album, 2016’s Starboy, took his sound in new directions with its flashy Daft Punk collaborations. He toured the world in support of the album in the following year, playing stages like Miami’s American Airlines Arena.
-
Angels x 3
Image Credit: Taylor Hill/WireImage He headed to Paris for the 2016 Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, where he took a stroll with his fellow stars Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga.
-
Grammy Drama
Image Credit: Christopher Polk/Getty Images He showed up in style with the Daft Punk robots for the 2017 Grammy Awards. The following year, he picked up his third Grammy — another Best Urban Contemporary Album trophy for Starboy.
But he wasn’t thrilled about having his music limited to the genre categories, later telling RS: “R&B and Black music is such a wide variety. If they put us all into one category, I still think it’s not fair. We’ll see how it goes.” The apparent answer? A shocking, complete shut-out of any nominations whatsoever in the 2021 awards.
-
California Love
Image Credit: Rich Fury/The Forum/Getty Images Kendrick Lamar came out as a special guest to perform “Sidewalks” when the Weeknd performed at the L.A. Forum in April 2017.
-
Love
Image Credit: Taylor Hill/FilmMagic After months of speculation, the Weeknd and Selena Gomez made their relationship public on the red carpet of the 2017 Met Gala.
-
Bonnaroo
Image Credit: Amy Harris/Invision/AP The Weeknd closed out Bonnaroo 2017 with a 75-minute, zero-guests performance that one critic hailed as a triumph of “earth-shaking bangers and seductive sad-boy jams.”
-
Scary Hours
Image Credit: Craig Barritt/Getty Images The Weeknd loves Halloween. Like, seriously, more than any pop star you can name, this guy trick-or-treats. He’s gone all-in on characters from The Godfather, The Nutty Professor, and Batman, among others — and when he attended Heidi Klum’s annual bash in 2018 with on-again girlfriend Bella Hadid, he didn’t disappoint with a flawless Beetlejuice get-up to match her Lydia.
-
Uncut Gems
Image Credit: Xavier Collin/Image Press Agency/Sipa USA/AP “I just want to be a filmmaker,” Tesfaye told Rolling Stone in 2020. “I want to make great cinema.” He got one step closer with his role as an early-career version of himself in 2019’s Uncut Gems, showing up in Gucci at the Hollywood premiere.
-
Bandages
Image Credit: Chris Pizzello/AP The Weeknd debuted a new, high-concept character for his After Hours album cycle, filming videos and making public appearances in increasingly beat-up shape as if he was progressing through a particularly rough night. When he accepted an American Music Award in full make-up in November 2020, some viewers were so convinced by the look that they worried about his wellbeing.
-
Super Bowl
Image Credit: Ashley Landis/AP The peak of his After Hours campaign came with a Super Bowl halftime show in February 2021 where he ran through a hall of mirrors and performed with an army of bandaged-up pseudo-Weeknds. Many memes ensued.
-
Planet Pop
Image Credit: Jerritt Clark/Getty Images In between his own album cycles, the Weeknd popped up for a memorable appearance on Doja Cat’s blockbuster Planet Her.