\n<\/p>\n
It\u2019s hard to believe The Weeknd<\/strong><\/a> has only been famous since 2013. After all, the \u201cBlinding Lights\u201d artist, whose real name is Abel Makkonen Tesfaye<\/strong>, has transformed himself so many times over the years!<\/p>\n At first, The Weeknd made minor changes to his look. Take his haircut in 2016, for example. The Toronto, Canada, native debuted a shorter hairstyle after years of having dreadlocks that he typically styled half-up, half-down. \u201cHe cut his hair for the new album, to give it a fresher look to match the feel of the album,\u201d a source revealed to Us Weekly<\/em><\/a> at the time, referring to his 2016 studio album, Starboy<\/em>.\u00a0\u201cIt 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Fast forward to the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards<\/a> 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\u2019s face appeared bloody and bruised. 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lastly, for his \u201cSave Your Tears\u201d music video, which dropped on January 5, The Weeknd was completely unrecognizable as a result of CGI and extreme prosthetics. If anything, he looked more like Jim Carrey<\/strong> in 1994\u2019s The Mask<\/em> than himself.<\/p>\n Of course, the Grammy Award winner didn\u2019t actually<\/em> 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\u2019s exaggerated facial reconstruction<\/a> on its social media accounts after the music video debuted.<\/p>\n That said, the songwriter did reveal the meaning behind his song \u201cBlinding Lights,\u201d which is where the first phase of the look originated. \u201c\u2018Blinding Lights\u2019 [is about] how you want to see someone at night, and you\u2019re intoxicated, and you\u2019re driving to this person and you\u2019re just blinded by street lights \u2014 but nothing could stop you from trying to go see that person, because you\u2019re so lonely,\u201d The Weeknd told Esquire<\/em><\/a> in an August 2020 interview. \u201cI don\u2019t want to ever promote drunk driving, but that\u2019s what the dark undertone is.\u201d<\/p>\n Hmmm \u2026 so his performance art is a warning against drunk driving? If that\u2019s the case, the extreme plastic surgery element is still confusing. Who knows? Maybe it\u2019s a warning against both! Here\u2019s hoping fans will get an explanation one day.<\/p>\n Scroll through the gallery below to see The Weeknd\u2019s total transformation over the years.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n