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The Weeknd is the alias of Abel Tesfaye, an enigma turned superstar whose accounts of emotionally and physically toxic indulgences are related through morose alternative R&B ballads and fluorescent electro-pop throwbacks alike. The singer and songwriter rose out of Toronto in 2011 with three mixtapes that seemed to have no designs on mainstream appeal. Within only a few years, however, Tesfaye had scored a variety of Top Ten pop hits that made his aching tenor known on a global level. These included a duet with Ariana Grande ("Love Me Harder"), a dramatic ballad from the soundtrack of Fifty Shades of Grey (the Grammy-winning "Earned It"), a disco-funk collaboration with Max Martin ("I Can't Feel My Face"), and a sleek Daft Punk production ("Starboy"). Additionally, Tesfaye topped album charts at home and abroad and collected more Grammys with his second and third proper albums, Beauty Behind the Madness (2015) and Starboy (2016). He entered the next decade with his third straight multi-platinum LP, After Hours (2020), the source of the global smash "Blinding Lights," and followed with Dawn FM (2022), a conceptual refinement of his retro-modern aesthetic. Having delved into acting and screenwriting, Tesfaye then became a driving force behind the dramatic television series The Idol (2023). Its soundtrack added to his tally of Top Ten entries with "Double Fantasy" and "Popular." Following collaborations with Future and Metro Boomin, he heralded his fifth album, 2025's Hurry Up Tomorrow, with the moody club track "Dancing in Flames."

Born in Toronto to Ethiopian immigrants, Abel Tesfaye debuted the Weeknd in late 2010 with three songs uploaded to YouTube. Made with producer Jeremy Rose, they served as a low-key prelude to three mixtapes self-released as free digital downloads the following year. The first one was House of Balloons (March), where clear traces of radio-friendly contemporary R&B à la Trey Songz, Jeremih, the-Dream, and Drake were synthesized with the progressive left-of-center likes of Spacek and Sa-Ra. Recorded in collaboration with producers Doc McKinney and Illangelo, among others, the set garnered widespread coverage within days of its release. A similar second mixtape, Thursday (August), preceded several appearances on Drake's album Take Care. Featuring a cover of Michael Jackson's "Dirty Diana," Echoes of Silence (December) completed the trilogy just before the end of the year. The following June, "Crew Love," off Take Care, reached the Top Ten of Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart. A few months later, Tesfaye was featured on another charting single, Wiz Khalifa's "Remember You."

After Tesfaye signed with Universal Republic, the three Weeknd mixtapes were remastered and bundled with three new songs for Trilogy, issued in November 2012. Despite consisting of material previously available for free, the set debuted at number four on the Billboard 200 chart. The following April, Tesfaye won Juno Awards in the categories of Breakthrough Artist of the Year and R&B/Soul Recording of the Year. Trilogy was certified platinum by the RIAA the next month. Kiss Land, much darker in tone than its title implied, followed in September 2013 and debuted at number two. Only "Live For," featuring Drake, touched the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop chart. Tesfaye had much more success with a series of non-album singles in 2014. "Often" was a Top Ten R&B/Hip-Hop hit. He was then featured on Ariana Grande's "Love Me Harder," which reached the Top Ten of the Hot 100 and went platinum in the U.S. "Earned It," featured in Fifty Shades of Grey, repeated the same feats.

In 2015, Tesfaye issued "The Hills," a booming, nightmarish ballad co-produced by Illangelo, and "Can't Feel My Face," an upbeat Max Martin collaboration, as the first two singles from Beauty Behind the Madness. Both songs topped the Hot 100. The album was issued that August and debuted at the same position. At the 58th Annual Grammy Awards, it won in the category of Best Urban Contemporary Album, while "Earned It" received the nod for Best R&B Performance. Through the end of 2015 and into 2016, Tesfaye was featured on Disclosure's "In the Night," Kanye West's "FML," Future's "Low Life," and Beyoncé's "6 Inch." "Starboy," produced by Daft Punk, was released in September 2016 as the lead single from Tesfaye's album of the same title. It became the singer's fifth Top Ten pop single before the November arrival of Starboy, which landed on top of the Billboard 200. The album's success was sustained with the second single, its other Daft Punk production, "I Feel It Coming."

Appearances on singles by Nav, Lana Del Rey, and French Montana were scattered through 2017. The following year saw Tesfaye appear on the track "Pray for Me," with Kendrick Lamar -- one of the lead singles from the official soundtrack for Marvel's Black Panther. In March 2018, he issued a surprise EP titled My Dear Melancholy,. The release flashed back to the darker aesthetic of Trilogy and crowned the Billboard 200, propelled by the Top Ten single "Call Out My Name." Toward the end of 2019, after a handful of intermediary collaborations and soundtrack contributions, Tesfaye issued the first two singles off his fourth proper album. "Heartless," co-produced by Illangelo and Metro Boomin, topped the Hot 100, and "Blinding Lights," another Max Martin collaboration, went Top Ten before After Hours arrived in March 2020. The heartache-filled set, which also featured a handful of collaborations with Daniel Lopatin (aka Oneohtrix Point Never), became Tesfaye's fourth straight number one release on the U.S. and Canadian album charts. "Blinding Lights" eventually reached the top spot on the Hot 100 and was soon his biggest single on a global scale, topping the pop charts in Canada, the U.K., Australia, and several European territories.

The following February, Tesfaye performed at Super Bowl LV, which coincided with the release of a career-spanning overview entitled The Highlights. The compilation topped the Billboard 200 and was followed later in the year by the standalone single "Take My Breath." A clutch of collaborations, such as featured appearances on Top Ten hits from Kanye West ("Hurricane"), Swedish House Mafia ("Moth to a Flame"), and Post Malone ("One Right Now"), also preceded the January 2022 arrival of Dawn FM. Among the contributors to Tesfaye's fifth proper Weeknd album were Jim Carrey (who provided narration) and Daniel Lopatin, as well as Quincy Jones and Tyler, The Creator. The album reached number two on the Billboard 200 and again topped the Canadian and U.K. albums charts. A tour supporting both After Hours and Dawn FM was documented with Live at SoFi Stadium, recorded at a pair of November 2022 performances and released the following March.

Tesfaye had done assorted television and film work, co-writing an episode of American Dad!, recording voices for episodes of Robot Chicken and The Simpsons, and making a cameo in Uncut Gems, among other endeavors outside music. In 2023, he further branched out with The Idol, a drama series he co-created, wrote, produced, and starred in. It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival before airing on HBO that June. Each of the five episodes featured new music from Tesfaye and fellow cast members such as Lily-Rose Depp, Suzanna Son, BlackPink's Jennie, and Troye Sivan. Tesfaye's bleary "Double Fantasy" (featuring Future) and Neptunes-inspired "Popular" (with Madonna and Playboi Carti) peaked respectively on the Canadian pop chart in the seventh and tenth positions.

In April 2024, the singer again joined Future, as well as producer Metro Boomin for the singles "Young Metro" and "We Still Don't Trust You." He then teased his fifth studio album, 2025's Hurry Up Tomorrow, with the release of the synthy dance anthem "Dancing in Flames." More songs followed from the album, including "Timeless" with Playboi Carti and "São Paulo" featuring Anitta. ~ Andy Kellman

Anitta is a globally renowned singer, songwriter, actress, social media influencer, and entrepreneur from Brazil. A natural alto, she has been at the forefront of the Latin pop explosion since "Meiga e Abusada," her 2012 debut single, won her a contract with Warner Bros. In 2013, her self-titled debut album topped the Brazilian charts and was certified platinum. After 2014's Ritmo Perfeito charted in several countries, she made her acting debut in the comedy Copa de Elite and founded her own management and production companies. Her 2015 album Bang! was certified platinum in Brazil, garnering an invitation to perform at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games alongside Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil. 2018's "Downtown," featuring J Balvin, was certified six-times platinum. 2019's trilingual Kisses offered ten tracks with an accompanying video for each. The set went Top Five on the U.S. Latin Pop chart. In 2022 she headlined both weekend stages at Coachella, and issued the long-awaited, trilingual Versions of Me; it broke streaming records and was certified diamond upon release. Funk Generation, an entire album of funk carioca tracks, appeared in 2024.

Born Larissa de Macedo Machado on March 30, 1993, and brought up in the impoverished favela neighborhood of Honório Gurgel in Rio de Janeiro, she began singing in church as a child and learned to dance before getting into baile funk as a teenager. She took her stage name from the central character in the TV mini-series Presença de Anita (Anita's Presence), based on the 1948 proto-Lolita novel by Mário Donato. When she was 17, one of her YouTube videos was discovered by funk Svengali and super-producer DJ Batutinha, who invited her to audition for him and subsequently signed her to his label, releasing her first single, "Eu Vou Ficar" (I'll Stay). In 2012, she was bought out of her contract by entrepreneur Kamilla Fialho, who became her manager (the two would later go on to become embroiled in a long-running multi-million-dollar legal dispute; she was later co-managed by her brother Renan Machado). On the strength of her single "Meiga e Abusada" (Sweet and Abused), Anitta was signed by Warner Music, which released her eponymous debut album in 2013.

The Anitta LP combined the sinuous rhythms of her funk roots with a modern, American-inspired electro-pop/R&B sound to great success. Her debut single for the label, "Show das Poderosas" (Powerful Girls' Show), became Brazil's most-watched YouTube video ever (130 million views) and that year's number three song on Brazilian radio. The album was certified platinum by Pro-Música Brasil, the country's official music industry trade organization.

The albums Ritmo Perfeito (Perfect Rhythm, 2014) and Bang (2015) followed in swift succession, the latter went to number two on Brazil's album charts and sold more than 300,000 copies, and a string of popular singles and wildly popular videos featuring a succession of well-known guest artists boosted her visibility. With her sweet, silky voice, sexy image, self-created choreography, and high-profile social media presence, she quickly became a national celebrity, but had yet bigger plans.

Anitta's first step toward an international career came in 2016, when she was selected to perform at the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in her home city alongside countrymen Caetono Veloso and Gilberto Gil. She also issued the single "Sim ou Não"/"Sí o No" featuring Maluma; it achieved triple diamond and gold certification.

In 2017, she was a featured collaborator on rapper Iggy Azalea's "Switch"; it was her first English-language performance. The remainder of the year was marked by a series of singles including the hit "Paradinha," Is That for Me" with Alesso, and the multi-platinum "Downtown" with J Balvin. 2018 began with another J Balvin collaboration in "Machika," a charting single that also featured Jeon. Throughout that year, she kept up a steady stream of singles including the Silva collaboration "Fica Tudo Bem" and the solo hit "Medicina," as well as the EP Solo that included tracks recorded and released between September and December. All told, Anitta released eight singles, three were certified gold and four were certified platinum or multi-platinum, while her videos registered hundreds of millions of views.

All of this helped lay the groundwork for her fourth album, Kisses. Released in 2019, it marked the artist's first tri-lingual album with tracks sung in Portuguese, Spanish, and English. The diamond-certified set featured a diverse roster of guests from Snoop Dogg, Mambo Kingz, and DJ Luian to Prince Royce, Alesso, and Veloso, and took home a Latin Grammy Award for Best Urban Music Album. That year, she signed a global management deal with Brandon Silverstein's S10 Entertainment. Anitta also appeared on the track "Faz Gostoso" on Madonna's Madame X long-player.

The front half of 2020 found Anitta collaborating with Major Lazer ("Make It Hot"), Ozuna ("Muito Calor"), and Psirico ("Jogacao"), as well as appearing on several episodes of the Brazilian telenovela Amor de Mãe. In September 2020, she released the single and video for "Me Gusta" featuring Cardi B and Myke Towers. The first pre-release single from a forthcoming album, the track went to number five on the Hot Latin Songs chart and became her first entry on the Hot 100. She placed the single "Furiosoa" on the soundtrack to F9, and issued "Girl from Rio," an autobiographical song that liberally sampled Tom Jobim's and Vinicius de Moraes' classic "Girl from Ipanema." It charted, as did remixes with Da Baby and DJ Snakehips. In November, she issued the single "Envolver." After registering well inside the top half of Hot 100, the song broke a string of records, including one for most streamed song in a single day, and the first song ever to place inside the Top 50 of all Latin countries on a streaming service. That year she took home the MTV Millennial Awards Brazil for Best Musical Artist.

In 2022, Anitta played the voice role of Letícia dos Anjos in the animated film Hitpig alongside Peter Dinklage, Lily Singh, and Rainn Wilson. In April she issued the long-awaited Versions of Me, led by the single "Gata" (feat. Chencho Corleone), that wed neoperreo and carioca funk. The tri-lingual set opened with more than six million streams on its first day. It also earned nearly 112 million on-demand song streams in the U.S. in April, and entered the Heatseekers chart at number two. Anitta played both weekends of the Coachella festival as a headliner and continued her prolific run with "Lobby," a collaboration with Missy Elliott, and an EP À Procura da Anitta Perfeita. Her first outing of 2023 was the hard-hitting summer jam "Funk Rave." The track appeared on the EP Funk Generation: A Favela Love Story. In 2024, Anitta released Funk Generation, an entire album in the funk carioca style. ~ John D. Buchanan