The Weeknd, singer, song writer, dancer, and record producer,r was born February 16, 1990 in Toronto,  Canada. He is the son of Ethiopian immigrants but does not have much contact with his father who left his family when Abel was a toddler. The Weeknd’s musical influence ranged from Traditional Ethiopian music to Michael Jackson, the “King of Pop” himself.The Weeknd claims that Jackson’s 1979 hit “Don’t Stop ’til You Get Enough” is “the song that helped me find my voice. It’s the reason I sing”. 

The Weeknd began recording his musical talent while in high school and dropped out, yet continued exploring his interest by releasing a free download called “House of Balloons” in 2011. He then released two more mixtapes, Thursday and Echoes of Silence. These three works excelled is career, and led to his collaboration with Drake on Drake’s 2011 album Take Care which featured several tracks from the House of Balloons. This landed a deal for Abel with Universal’s Republic Records. 

 All together, these three works, plus three additional unreleased songs were re-released to form what is now known as the Trilogy, a compilation album released November 13, 2012 by Public Records and XO. The Trilogy became a platinum-selling record, yet he still managed to hide himself from the public at large as he refused interviews for a long time and chose to use images of women for his 2013 album, Kiss Land, instead of images of himself. The mystique was intentional, but also reflected Abel’s true shyness and insecurities that troubled him early on in his career. 

From start to now, The Weeknd has maintained this mystique yet has managed to build a huge fanbase and leave an undeniable impact.