Starboy! Check Out The Weeknd’s Total Transformation Over the Years in Photos

2013

The Weeknd released his first studio album, Kiss Land, in 2013.

2014

By 2014, his music had yet to make a major impact with listeners.

2015

In 2015, The Weeknd released Beauty Behind the Madness, which featured popular singles “Can’t Feel My Face” and “The Hills.” He also began dating supermodel Bella Hadid the same year.

2016

The following year, The Weeknd debuted a new look in 2016 after dropping his third studio album, Starboy. The Toronto, Canada, native debuted a new shorter haircut after traditionally wearing dreadlocks in a half-up, half-down style.

“He cut his hair for the new album, to give it a fresher look to match the feel of the album,” a source revealed to Us Weekly at the time, referring to his 2016 studio album, Starboy. “It was a deliberate decision like a lot of artists do. New album, new look. He has been trying not to be photographed to unveil it all in a very deliberate rollout.”

2017

The Weeknd went on a bit of a musical hiatus in 2017. However, he did briefly date Selena Gomez after one of his many breakups from Bella. The pair made their red carpet debut at the Met Gala that May.

2018

By 2018, The Weeknd and Selena called it quits and he and Bella were back together. As far as music, it would be another two years before fans got a new album.

2019

In August 2019, The Weeknd and Bella called it quits for good. That September, fans started to notice he looked different. Most notably, The Weeknd trimmed all of his facial hair except a thin mustache.

2020

Fast forward to the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards and The Weeknd was back at it with yet another new look. This time, however, it was far more jarring than getting a trim. The singer’s face appeared bloody and bruised.

The Weeknd accepted two awards at the MTV Music Video Awards, debuting his bold red-and-black aesthetic for his After Hours era.

Three months later, at the American Music Awards in November, The Weeknd upped the ante and added bandages reminiscent of a post-op plastic surgery patient.

2020

By November, he looked seriously injured at the American Music Awards but still took home four major awards.

2021

The Weeknd snapped this (terrifying!) selfie ahead of his “Save Your Tears” music video. He was completely unrecognizable as a result of CGI and extreme prosthetics.

Of course, the Grammy Award winner didn’t actually alter his face in the name of art, but the results were still shocking, nonetheless. To date, The Weeknd has never explicitly explained the story behind his stage makeup. However, Prosthetic Renaissance, a special effects makeup studio, took credit for the pop star’s exaggerated facial reconstruction on its social media accounts after the music video debuted.

Three days later, on January 8, his face was back to normal in a teaser for his upcoming Super Bowl LV Pepsi commercial.

February 2021

During the Super Bowl halftime show on Sunday, February 8, The Weeknd looked fantastic in a sparkly red blazer.

September 2021

Just Abel! The Weeknd put his pop star alter ego aside, looking sharp wearing eyeglasses with a neatly trimmed beard as he attended the 1st Annual Black Music Action Coalition’s Music in Action Awards in Los Angeles.

February 2022

Abel looked so sharp and handsome while attending Super Bowl 56 in Los Angeles. He laughed while talking to a friend in the stands at SoFi Stadium. A year prior, he was the halftime entertainer for Super Bowl 55. The artist dropped his newest album, Dawn FM, on January 7, 2022.

May 2023

Abel looked dashing as he attended a photo call for his Max show, The Idol, at the 76th Annual Cannes Film Festival. He cowrote, executive produced and starred in the project, which was his first major acting role. The series was widely panned by critics and canceled after its first season.

The Weeknd Makes Rare Appearance at 2026 Grammys Stage After Boycott

The Weeknd made a triumphant return to the Grammy’s stage after boycotting the award show in March 2021. The musician accused the Recording Academy of being “corrupt” after his 2020 album, After Hours, failed to receive a nomination at the 2021 awards ceremony. He went on to speculate that there were “secret committees” who dictated the shortlisted nominees.

He returned to the stage in January alongside Playboi Carti after Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. explained his goal to “change and modernize so that we could be better and serve this dynamic and global music community.”