The Weeknd, most famous for 2016’s hit album, Starboy, is a Grammy Award-winning singer, known for his collaboration with other distinguished artists, and his distinctive sound. While everyone knows that The Weeknd can carry a tune, many might be wondering whether or not the Canadian musician plays any instruments.
The Weeknd can play the piano. Though he does not usually play the piano during his live performances, there are multiple snaps of The Weeknd using a piano or a keyboard at home or in the studio while he’s working.
Read more below about The Weeknd’s childhood and musical background, what a record producer has to say about The Weeknd’s instrumental skills, and why we might not see the artist play piano on stage anytime soon.
Family Folk Music and Canadian Chords
The Weeknd was born Abel Makkonen Tesfaye on February 16, 1990. His parents were Ethipoian immigrants who had fled to Canada to escape the tumultuous political climate and the famine threatening their home country.
The family resided in the Scarborough area of Toronto, known for its diverse culture and large immigrant population. The Weeknd grew up engaged in studying his Ethiopian heritage, even learning to speak the native language, Amharic, and playing traditional African music along with his relatives, noting, “My mother, my grandmother, my uncles would play Ethiopian artists like Aster Aweke and Mulatu Astatke all the time in the house. They would drink coffee, eat popcorn, and listen to the music. It’s such beautiful music, but I didn’t realize how beautiful it was until I left that head space.”
He credits the African folk music of his family’s home country as one of the main reasons his music sounds so different compared to others in the music business, saying, “That’s why I feel like my singing is not conventional. The feeling in my music and in my voice is very Ethiopian and very African and much more powerful than anything, technically.”
On the Brink of Superstardom
Though The Weeknd’s rise to the top was not quick, it was less than two years from the time he uploaded his free mixtape, House of Balloons, which caught the attention of Drake, to when The Weeknd released his debut album, Kiss Land, in 2013. The singer became a household name in 2016 when he released the hit single, “Starboy,” which ultimately snagged the top spot on Billboard.
Musical Mastery and Media Shyness
Even as far back as his debut album, The Weeknd has been heavily involved in the production of his music, and not just recording tracks for the album. DannyBoyStyles, a record producer who worked with The Weeknd on Kiss Land, took to Twitter to say that The Weeknd had composed the whole intro to one of his songs, writing, “Intro to Wanderlust was completely composed by Abel. Not being able to play all instruments he sung the parts for us to play.”
You can see The Weeknd playing the piano in a home video in the YouTube video below.
The Weeknd, however, has always shied away from the fame his music career has brought him. Though he has loosened up as time has gone on, in the initial phase of his career, The Weeknd granted few interviews, would not pose for pictures and many of his fans did not even know what the singer looked like in real life. When asked about the media shyness, The Weeknd said, “I felt like I had nothing to say. I still feel I have nothing to say. I’m the most boring person to talk to.”
Though most would disagree, part of the reason The Weeknd might not play the piano live during concerts is because of this shyness. Whether or not fans will ever get to see the singer bust out his instrumental prowess is anyone’s guess. For now, they will just have to settle for cute snaps of the singer on social media.