While The Weeknd's success is only continuing to grow, things haven't always been easy for him.
In a recent interview, The Weeknd revealed the heartbreaking story behind his stage name...
From a homeless teenager to performing at the Super Bowl...
Life for The Weeknd has completely changed for the better.
But it hasn't always been easy, as The Weeknd has revealed the heartbreaking story behind his stage name.
And the thing we've all wondered - why there's a missing "e."
Scroll on to find out...
Now, if you didn't know, The Weeknd (also known as Abel Tesfaye) is an R&B sensation.
The Canadian-born singer-songwriter is one of the leading figures in the music industry.
The star broke into the music scene in 2011 with his mixtape, House of Balloons.
Even in the early days, he managed to work with some pretty high profile artists including Drake and Wiz Khalifa, while still finding his feet within the industry.
His musical success skyrocketed with his 2015 album, Beauty Behind the Madness.
The album brought us the global hit single "Can't Feel My Face," which has drawn in comparison to the likes of Michael Jackson, hit no 1 on the Billboard chart, and went on to rank as the best song of the year.
His follow-up album, Starboy, also enjoyed critical success.
In late November 2016, the Weeknd released his third album, Starboy, featuring star-studded guest appearances from the likes of Lana Del Rey, Future, and Kendrick Lamar. There's absolutely no denying that the star is a hitmaker!But he has also been in the public eye for his turbulent love life.
The star has been in an on-off relationship with model, Bella Hadid, since the pair linked up in 2015.
According to E! News, the pair made it official in May 2015 after hanging out together at Coachella the previous month.
But it didn't take long for their relationship to hit a rocky patch.
The same year they made it official, they reportedly took a break due to their busy schedules and opted to celebrate Christmas separately. Yikes.It was the first of many hurdles for the famous pair...
And in February 2016, the couple appeared to be back on when they hit the Grammys red carpet together, and then the following month, looked extremely loved-up as they posed for snaps at the Daily Front Row’s Fashion Los Angeles Awards.
But it wasn't to be after the couple were reported to have split again shortly afterward.
The pair had an awkward post-breakup reunion on the Victoria's Secret runway stage.
Just 2 weeks after their breakup, The Weeknd released his highly acclaimed album, Starboy, and took to the stage at the annual Victoria's Secret Fashion Show, where his ex happened to be strutting her stuff.
When asked about the reunion, Bella claimed that it wasn't awkward at all: "He is my best friend, and I am excited because I am walking during his performance."
This time, the split was serious...
And The Weeknd even moved on, coupling up with singer Selena Gomez.
But it didn't take long for the R&B star and Bella to get on friendly terms again when in late-2017, the singer was pictured leaving Bella's apartment.
Throughout 2018, the couple were rumored to be back on.
The pair were spotting kissing on various occasions and were even spotted going on a date.
But after a number of strong months, the couple called it quits (again) and this time, it seemed to be for good.
And in true post-breakup style, The Weekend showcased a drastic makeover in 2019.
In a rare red carpet appearance, the R&B powerhouse attended the premiere of his feature film debut, Uncut Gems, at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival.
But the star was looking notably different...
The "I Feel It Coming" singer made quite a few changes to his signature look, which has hardly changed over the years - opting to trade his usual full-grown beard for a mustache and swapping out his hairdo completely.
He still rocked it, of course...
And with an appearance change up...
Always comes new music. And we were right, because he soon dropped After Hours shortly after teasing it on his socials.
However, it seems as though he's going through something currently...
Because his appearance has drastically changed over the past few months.
At the time of the new look's debut, he explained his bizarre outfit choice.
"Blinding Lights" [is about] how you want to see someone at night, and you’re intoxicated, and you’re driving to this person, and you’re just blinded by streetlights," he told Esquire."But nothing could stop you from trying to go see that person, because you’re so lonely. I don’t want to ever promote drunk driving, but that’s what the dark undertone is."
But while a lot of us hoped it would just be an "aesthetic" he was using to promote an important social issue, it seemed to have gone on for a surprisingly long time.
Because then we were graced with his new "post-surgery" look in his latest music video for "Save Your Tears."
And we weren't on board with it...
Many were speculating whether or not this was real surgery or just prosthetics...
Either way, it's pretty grotesque if you ask me.Here is a wild close-up.
Let's just say we were all left speechless seeing him like this.
But after all the backlash, the singer came out to explain the thought process behind his new face in an interview with Jem Aswad at Variety.
She asked the singer: "What does this mean/symbolizes?" to which he replied: "The significance of the entire head bandages is reflecting on the absurd culture of Hollywood celebrity and people manipulating themselves for superficial reasons to please and be validated."
She then asked: "What can we take from the fact that you seem to be intentionally making your face increasingly unattractive while promoting your biggest album?"
"I suppose you could take that being attractive isn't important to me but a compelling narrative is."
"Sometimes you appear in photos or on TV and videos in character, sometimes not. Why?" She continued.
"Why not play with the character and the artist and let those lines blur and move around?"
So there we have it, he's playing a character in a continuous storyline...
And now, The Weeknd has answered yet another of our questions.
As he's revealed the story behind his stage name and why there's a missing "e"...
The singer revealed the answers in a Reddit AMA.
A fan had asked him, "Where did "The Weeknd" come from? I've always wondered."
To which he responded: "hated my name at the time" and so he decided to try a stage name.
He wrote, "I left home when I was about seventeen dropped out of high school and convinced Lamar to do the same lol."
"We grabbed our mattresses from our parents threw it in our friends sh**ty van and left one weekend and never came back home."
"It was gonna be the title of HOB. I hated my name at the time though so I tried it as a stage name. It sounded cool."
He went on to reveal the reason the "e" is missing...
"I took out the 'e' because there was already a Canadian band named the weekend (copyright issues)."