When did The Weeknd and Drake meet? Friendship explored as duo celebrates 'Dawn FM' creator's 32nd birthday

As it turns out, The Weeknd (real name Abel Tesfaye) and Drake (real name Drake Graham) are way past their long-term feud as the duo celebrated the former's 32nd birthday in Las Vegas over the weekend. The latter recently took to Instagram to share snaps from the celebration in a post that he captioned:

"We've done everything like it's nothing…isn't that something."

The bunch of photos posted by Drake featured himself and The Weeknd, who turned 32 on February 16, sharing a hug and conversing amidst the celebrations. The former also shared a solo picture of himself standing by a casino table.

In another video posted to Twitter, Drake was seen delivering a heartfelt toast in honor of his friend's birthday. Taking to the mic at the casino, the Canadian noted:

"I was there from day one, and I'm grateful not only to be here with my brothers but just grateful that the family is back together where we belong from the greatest city in the world."

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Brief look inside The Weeknd and Drake's relationship

The Weeknd and Drake are record-breaking singers (Images via Karwai Tang/WireImage and Rich Fury/Getty Images)

Drake introduced the then-little-known singer to his fans by sharing two of The Weeknd's songs on his October's Very Own (OVO) blog in 2010. The two later met in 2011, back when the latter was promoting his debut mixtape House of Balloons and touring in Toronto.

In August, shortly before the duo collaborated on Drake's album Take Care, he featured on The Weeknd's track The Zone. At the time, Drake told MTV News:

"He's like a writer, collaborator on four songs on my album, which I'm very proud of. I usually don't branch out writing-wise working with other people. I usually like to write all my own stuff, but we get it. We try to tap into the same emotions because we're from the same city."

In 2012, Drake revealed his plans to sign Tesfaye to his label, OVO Sound. Later, in a conversation with MTV's Sway Calloway, the rapper stated that he was already working on his plans at the time:

"As far as on paper, it's all being worked out, but that's not really what counts anyway. What counts to me is the fact that the affiliation is so known, and that's all I really care about."

However, in September 2012, The Weeknd signed a partnership with Republic Records, receiving his own XO imprint. Months later, a tweet by Drake led to speculation that he was not very happy with his collaborator's decision.

In 2013, the duo continued to work together. Drake appeared on Live For, a song by The Weeknd, who accompanied him on his Would You Like a Tour? tour.

In 2015, the Starboy hitmaker revealed that he gave up a huge number of his own songs for Drake's Take Care out of desperation to earn money. The Weeknd told Rolling Stone:

"I gave up almost half of my album. It's hard. I will always be thankful — if it wasn't for the light he shined on me, who knows where I'd be. And everything happens for a reason. You never know what I would say if this success wasn't in front of me now."

In 2017, shortly before Drake appeared in his friend's Starboy: Legend of the Fall Tour, the latter appeared on his Boy Meets World Tour. During The Weeknd's appearance at the 2017 OVO Festival, Drake hinted at a possible collaboration, saying:

"I don't want to do this to you on stage, but I feel like that OVO XO project has to happen at some point. I just want to say that."

On the sixth anniversary of Take Care, Drake took to Instagram to share a snap of himself looking over the album's track list. However, when one follower commented that it was The Weeknd who wrote most of the album, Drake responded, commenting:

"Abel Tesfaye CO WROTE on 'Shot For Me' and 'Practice,' obviously was featured on 'Crew Love' and 'The Ride' and that's it. There's 20 songs on that album … don't try me."

In 2019, Tesfaye dissed his countryman on his track Lost in the Fire. Seemingly referring to Drake having a secret son, Adonis, the lyrics of the song noted:

"And I just want a baby with the right one/'Cause I would never be the one to hide one."

However, in 2019, Drake addressed numerous personal issues, including his beef with The Weeknd, via his track War. Hinting at putting an end to their feud, Drake rapped:

"And the boy that sound like he sang on Thriller, you know that's been my n----, Yeah, we just had to fix things, family, six tings, we can't split up."

Despite going through |over the years, the old friends finally seem to be on great terms as they have evidently put their decade-long battle aside for good.