The Weeknd

The Weeknd is Abel Tesfaye from Toronto, who started putting music online anonymously in 2010. Those early tracks, collected as the mixtapes House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence, had a murky, atmospheric sound that felt different from mainstream R&B at the time. Songs like Wicked Games and Lonely Star established his voice, a high, wounded tenor singing about late nights, blurred relationships, and chemical escapes.

He moved that sound into pop structures without losing its moody core. Albums like Beauty Behind the Madness and Starboy brought hits such as Party Monster and Save Your Tears, which kept the thematic darkness but wrapped it in brighter, more accessible production. His collaborations have ranged from working with pop producers like Max Martin to featuring Jim Carrey on a track like Out Of Time.

Live, his shows tend to be big, visually dense productions that match the scale of the music. He's won Grammys and other awards, but the work itself, from those early mixtapes to the chart-topping records, has always been more focused on maintaining a specific, insular atmosphere than on chasing trends.