Abel Tesfaye, born on February 16, 1990, in Toronto to Ethiopian parents, grew up in a family environment marked by Orthodox Christian faith. Since his debut under the name The Weeknd, his lyrics oscillate between biblical references, dark imagery, and a quest for meaning. His relationship with religion is not limited to a confessional label: it permeates his albums, music videos, and rare public statements.
Ethiopian Orthodoxy and The Weeknd’s Family Heritage
The Ethiopian Orthodox Church (Tewahedo) is one of the oldest Christian traditions in the world. Abel Tesfaye was raised by his grandmother in this tradition, with its liturgies in Ge’ez, extended fasts, and a strong communal practice within the Ethiopian diaspora in Scarborough, a neighborhood of Toronto.
This strict religious framework shaped his relationship with the sacred, but also with sin and guilt, two themes that run through his early mixtapes. On House of Balloons, Thursday, and Echoes of Silence, the tension between temptation and remorse serves as a direct echo of this upbringing. The religious vocabulary is not decorative: it structures the narrative.
A French biographical profile indicates that Abel Tesfaye claims to be of Ethiopian Orthodox faith, which goes beyond the mere mention of a family background. This detail is rarely picked up by English-speaking media, which often merely refer to a generic “Christian” background.
The nuance matters: Tewahedo Orthodoxy has its own theology, its own biblical canon (broader than that of other Churches), and its own rituals. Understanding the religion of Abel Tesfaye requires distinguishing this tradition from other branches of Christianity.
Abel Tesfaye Between Personal Spirituality and Rejection of Institutions
As his career has grown, The Weeknd has gradually distanced himself from organized religious practice. Several sources converge on one point: he describes himself as spiritual rather than religious. This stance, common among North American artists of his generation, takes on a particular hue in his case.
He does not reject the idea of a higher power. However, he has expressed skepticism towards religious institutions, denouncing what he perceives as hypocrisy and moral judgment. This critique does not specifically target the Ethiopian Orthodox Church but organized religion as a whole.
The available data do not allow for a precise pinpointing of the moment of this rupture. No interview provides a date or triggering event. What emerges is a gradual evolution, visible in the tone of his successive albums:
- The 2011 mixtapes (Trilogy) carry guilt as a narrative engine, with vocabulary directly borrowed from liturgy.
- Beauty Behind the Madness and Starboy shift the focus towards unapologetic hedonism, where religious reference becomes more ironic than confessional.
- After Hours and Dawn FM reintroduce a metaphysical dimension, this time detached from any Church, centered on purgatory, individual redemption, and death.
Religious References in The Weeknd’s Albums and Music Videos
The music of The Weeknd does not contain an explicit profession of faith. Religion functions as a symbolic language, not as a doctrinal message. It is this ambiguity that makes the subject complex to analyze.
Dawn FM, released in 2022, exemplifies this approach. The album presents itself as a radio show broadcast in a liminal space, between life and death. Jim Carrey’s voice plays the role of an ambiguous spiritual guide. Themes of judgment, confession, and passage to the afterlife structure the whole, without ever naming a specific religion.
In his music videos, the imagery oscillates between Christian iconography and dystopian pop aesthetics. Crosses, repurposed halos, and martyr postures appear regularly, but always within a framework that blurs the line between sincere devotion and artistic provocation.
The Case of the Album Hurry Up Tomorrow
The project Hurry Up Tomorrow concludes the trilogy that began with After Hours and pushes this logic further. The film associated with the project and recent stage performances showcase an artist who uses religious symbolism to question his own mortality.
The concerts of the 2025-2026 tour, particularly those held at the Stade de France with a giant golden statue and fireworks, stage a form of collective ritual borrowing from both pop spectacle and sacred ceremony.
Fans on Reddit interpret these choices in divergent ways. Some see it as a turn towards Christianity, comparing the approach to Kanye West’s “Jesus Is King” moment. Others believe that The Weeknd remains in an artistic posture, without any real conversion. Field feedback varies on this point, and the artist himself has not clarified his position.
What The Weeknd’s Discography Says About His Relationship with Faith
Three constants traverse Abel Tesfaye’s career in terms of religion. First, guilt as a creative engine, present from the early mixtapes and never completely abandoned. Second, a refusal to be confined to a confessional category, despite a clear assertion of his Ethiopian Orthodox roots. Finally, a use of religion as narrative material, on par with drugs, sex, or fame.
This approach distinguishes The Weeknd from artists like Kanye West, who has publicly embraced and then questioned evangelical Christianity, or Chance the Rapper, whose faith openly permeates his lyrics. For Abel Tesfaye, faith remains an intimate territory, artistically exploited but rarely exposed head-on.
The most listened-to pop singer of his generation has not provided a definitive answer regarding his beliefs. His discography, from Trilogy to Hurry Up Tomorrow, outlines a journey where religion is omnipresent without ever being asserted. Perhaps it is this unresolved tension that gives his music its particular emotional charge.