Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (  born 16 February 1990), known professionally as The Weeknd(pronounced the weekend), is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and record producer

In late 2010, Tesfaye anonymously uploaded several songs to YouTube under the name "The Weeknd". He released three nine-track mixtapes throughout 2011: House of Balloons, Thursday and Echoes of Silence, which were critically acclaimed. In 2012, he released a compilation album Trilogy, thirty tracks consisting of the remastered mixtapes and three additional songs. It was released under Republic Records and his own label XO.

In Tesfaye's youth, his mother would work several jobs in order to support the family, including jobs as a nurse and caterer. This was alongside attending night school to learn English. Tesfaye's father abandoned the family when he was a toddler, resulting in Tesfaye being cared for by his grandmother.While living with his grandmother Tesfaye learned Amharic, which he also spoke with his mother, and attended Ethiopian Orthodox church services. Tesfaye stated in an interview that regarding his father "I saw him vaguely when I was six, and then again when I was 11 or 12, and he had a new family and kids. I don't even know where he lived — I'd see him for, like, a night. I'm sure he's a great guy. I never judged him. He wasn't abusive, he wasn't an alcoholic, he wasn't an asshole. He just wasn't there.

Tesfaye has won three Grammy Awards, eight Billboard Music Awards, two American Music Awards, nine Juno Awards, and has been nominated for one Academy Award.