The Weeknd performing at the 58th Grammy Awards in L.A. on Monday, February 15th, 2016. (Wire Image)
Tadias Magazine
By Tadias Staff
Published: Tuesday, February 16th, 2016
New York (TADIAS) — The Weeknd (Abel Tesfaye) won two Grammy Awards during the 58th annual ceremony held in Los Angeles on Monday evening. The Canadian-born singer-songwriter, who is the first Ethiopian artist to win the award, received the 2016 prize for Best R&B Performance and Best Urban Contemporary Album for Beauty Behind The Madness.
“The Weeknd’s blockbuster sophomore album, Beauty Behind the Madness, yielded seven Grammy nominations, including record and album of the year, along with an Academy Award nod for “Earned It,” which appeared on the soundtrack for the 2015 hit “Fifty Shades of Grey,” The Los Angeles Times noted in a recent profile of Abel. “Tesfaye’s breakout year is that much more remarkable given how unlikely a pop star he was.”
LA Times adds: “The Ethiopian Canadian singer (Amharic, his first language, can be heard on his smash “The Hills”) debuted in 2011 with a trilogy of mixtapes that helped usher in a wave of artists who eschewed conventional R&B boundaries in favor of edgier productions.”
“I wanted to drop three albums in a year because no one had done it. It was bold, unheard of. Back then I didn’t even want to get onstage,” Tesfaye said of his anonymous start.
The Weeknd’s chart-topping hit “Earned It,” from the soundtrack of Fifty Shades of Grey, is also nominated for the 2016 Oscars in the Original Song category.
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Can the Weeknd Turn Himself Into the Biggest Pop Star in the World? (NY Times)
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The reclusive artist talks ‘Beauty Behind the Madness’ (Radio.com)
With dark tales of sex and drugs, is the Weeknd the next face of R&B? (The Guardian)
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