"Die for You" is a song by Canadian singer

the Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. Known for his sonic versatility and dark lyricism, his music explores escapism, Romance (love), ...

, from his third studio album '' Starboy'' (2016). The song was written by the Weeknd,

Doc McKinney Martin "Doc" McKinney (born August 27, 1971) is a Canadian-American record producer and songwriter. McKinney is a Grammy-award-winning producer. He was formerly one half of the duo (now solo act) Esthero. His work with fellow Toronto artist The ...

Cirkut Henry Russell Walter (born April 23, 1986), known professionally as Cirkut, is a Canadian record producer and songwriter. He has co-produced and co-written for Dr. Luke, Katy Perry, Becky G, Ava Max, Nicki Minaj, R. City, The Weeknd, Kesha, Ciar ...

, Prince 85,

Cashmere Cat Magnus August Høiberg (born 29 November 1987), known professionally as Cashmere Cat, is a Norwegian DJ, record producer, songwriter and musician. He is best known for producing songs for artists including Kanye West, The Kid Laroi, Selena Gomez ...

, Dylan Wiggins, and Billy Walsh, while being produced by the former five. It was one of the tracks of ''Starboy'' to be featured in the short film ''Mania''. It received early airplay from

urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

and

urban AC Urban adult contemporary, often abbreviated as urban AC or UAC, (also known as adult R&B,) is the name for a format of radio music, similar to an urban contemporary format. Radio stations using this format usually would not have hip hop music on ...

radio in August 2017, and was sent to

rhythmic contemporary Rhythmic contemporary, also known as Rhythmic Top 40, Rhythmic CHR or rhythmic crossover, is a primarily American music-radio format that includes a mix of EDM, upbeat rhythmic pop, hip hop and upbeat R&B hits. Rhythmic contemporary never uses ...

radio on September 19 as the album's fifth single in the United States. The song was also scheduled to be sent to US

contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio (also known as CHR, contemporary hits, hit list, current hits, hit music, top 40, or pop radio) is a radio format that is common in many countries that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by ...

on December 5, but its release to the format in the country was cancelled for unknown reasons. Six years after its original release, the song impacted the radio format in 2022 after a steady resurgence in popularity online, with the song additionally achieving a new peak of number 6 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, after its original peak of number 43 in 2016. On February 24, 2023, the Weeknd released a remix of "Die for You" with American singer

Ariana Grande Ariana Grande-Butera ( ; born June 26, 1993) is an American singer, songwriter, and actress. Her four-octave vocal range has received critical acclaim, and her personal life has been the subject of widespread media attention. She has received ...

Background and release

In an interview on

Beats 1 Radio Apple Music 1, previously branded as Beats 1, is a 24/7 music radio station owned and operated by Apple Inc. It is accessible through iTunes or the Apple Music app on a computer, smartphone or tablet, smart speaker (such as the Apple HomePod), ...

with

Zane Lowe Alexander Zane Reid Lowe (born 7 August 1973) is a New Zealand radio DJ, live DJ, record producer, and television presenter. After an early career in music creation, production and DJing, he moved to the UK in 1997. He came to prominence thro ...

, the Weeknd revealed that the song was finished a week before ''Starboy'''s release. Due to the song's lyrical content, which details the conflicting feelings of ending a relationship with someone he still loves, it was the hardest song to finish from the album. The song was later serviced to rhythmic radio on September 19, 2017, in the US as the sixth overall single from ''Starboy''. Following its release as a single in North America, the song charted modestly across various ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' component charts and became a moderate Canadian hit. "Die for You" would later then be included on the track list of the Weeknd's second

greatest hits album A greatest hits album or best-of album is a type of compilation album that collects popular and commercially successful songs by a particular artist or band. While greatest hits albums are typically supported by the artist, they can also be crea ...

, ''

The Highlights ''The Highlights'' is the second greatest hits album (and first released globally) by Canadian singer the Weeknd. It was released on February 5, 2021, and follows the release of his fourth studio album '' After Hours'' (2020) and his first greates ...

'', which was released on February 5, 2021. After a resurgence in popularity thanks to

TikTok TikTok, known in China as Douyin (), is a short-form video hosting service owned by the Chinese company ByteDance. It hosts user-submitted videos, which can range in duration from 15 seconds to 10 minutes. TikTok is an international version ...

in September 2021, its official music video was released on November 25, 2021, along with a standalone digital release on Apple Music with its own artwork. The song would later go on to begin receiving

airplay in early August 2022 despite its cancelled release to the format in late 2017.

Music and composition

"Die for You" is written in the key of

C minor C minor is a minor scale based on C, consisting of the pitches C, D, E, F, G, A, and B. Its key signature consists of three flats. Its relative major is E major and its parallel major is C major. The C natural minor scale is: : Cha ...

and has a

tempo In musical terminology, tempo (Italian, 'time'; plural ''tempos'', or ''tempi'' from the Italian plural) is the speed or pace of a given piece. In classical music, tempo is typically indicated with an instruction at the start of a piece (often ...

of 67 beats per minute.

Commercial performance

In the United States, "Die for You" peaked at number 43 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and charted for three weeks during its original run. Additionally, the song reached number 19 on the

Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by '' Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 ...

chart. In Canada, the song peaked at number 35 on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...

and charted for 20 weeks. In late 2021 and throughout 2022, "Die for You" saw an increase in consumption as the song went viral on the social media platform

alongside fellow album track " Stargirl Interlude". This increase in streaming and sales led to the song's parent album to re-enter the top 40 on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart. It also led to the song entering the top 40 of multiple single charts across Asia and Oceania, with the song additionally reaching number 19 on the ''Billboard'' Global 200 chart and re-entering the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at number six. On February 6, 2023, "Die for You" topped the US Radio Songs chart, over six years after its arrival on ''Starboy''. It also reached number one on the mainstream top 40-based US

Pop Airplay Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/contemporary hit radio, CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by Billboard (magazine), ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played o ...

chart.

Use in media

"Die for You" was featured in the second season of the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

comedy-drama television series '' Insecure''. Due to its appearance in the show, the song led the THR's Top TV Songs Chart in August 2017.

Music video

On November 25, 2021, to celebrate the five-year anniversary of ''Starboy'''s release, the Weeknd surprise-released the music video for "Die for You", directed by Christian Breslauer. The video pays homage to the science fiction horror television series ''

Stranger Things ''Stranger Things'' is an American science fiction horror drama television series created by the Duffer Brothers, who also serve as showrunners and are executive producers along with Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen. Produced by Monkey Massacre Prod ...

'' and the 1982 science fiction film '' E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial''.

Remixes

SZA remix

On October 4, 2021, an unreleased remix of "Die for You" featuring singer-songwriter SZA premiered on the eighteenth episode of the Weeknd's Apple Music 1 radio show ''

Memento Mori ''Memento mori'' (Latin for 'remember that you ave todie'

Ariana Grande remix

Another remix, a collaboration with American singer

, was released on February 24, 2023, with an accompanying lyric video. On February 21, 2023, Grande shared a video on social media of her working on the remix of the song, including the lead single on Grande's upcoming seventh studio album, and which was recorded whilst she was filming for the film adaption of the musical ''

Wicked Wicked may refer to: Books * Wicked, a minor character in the ''X-Men'' universe * '' Wicked'', a 1995 novel by Gregory Maguire that inspired the musical of the same name * ''Wicked'', the fifth novel in Sara Shepard's ''Pretty Little Liars'' s ...

''. The song marks the fourth collaboration between the Weeknd and Grande, after "

Love Me Harder "Love Me Harder" is a song by American singer Ariana Grande and Canadian singer the Weeknd from Grande's second studio album, '' My Everything'' (2014). It was written by the Weeknd, Max Martin, Savan Kotecha, Peter Svensson, Ali Payami and Be ...

" (2014), " Off the Table" (2020), and the remix of "

Save Your Tears "Save Your Tears" is a song by Canadian singer the Weeknd from his fourth studio album, '' After Hours'' (2020). The Weeknd wrote and produced the song with Max Martin and Oscar Holter, with Belly and DaHeala receiving additional writing cred ...

" (2021). The remix had obtained the biggest first day streams for a remix in

Spotify Spotify (; ) is a proprietary Swedish audio streaming and media services provider founded on 23 April 2006 by Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon. It is one of the largest music streaming service providers, with over 456 million monthly active us ...

history with 8.9 million streams.

Track listing

Digital / streaming single # "Die for You" – 4:20 # "Die for You" (instrumental) – 4:19 Digital / streaming single # "Die for You" – 4:20 # "Die for You" (music video) – 4:40 Digital / streaming single # "Die for You" – 4:20 # "Die for You" (instrumental) – 4:19 # "Die for You" (music video) – 4:40 Digital / streaming single # "Die for You" – 4:20 # "Die for You" (instrumental) – 4:19 # "Die for You" (sped up) – 3:43 Digital / streaming single # "Die for You" (remix) (with

) – 3:52 Digital single # "Die for You" (remix instrumental) (with Ariana Grande) – 3:52 Digital / streaming EP # "Die for You" (remix) (with Ariana Grande) – 3:52 # "Die for You" – 4:20 # "Die for You" (instrumental) – 4:19 # "Die for You" (sped up) – 3:43

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

* {{authority control 2016 songs 2017 singles The Weeknd songs Songs written by Cashmere Cat Songs written by the Weeknd Song recordings produced by Cirkut (record producer) Song recordings produced by Cashmere Cat Songs written by Doc McKinney Songs written by Cirkut (record producer) Song recordings produced by the Weeknd Songs written by Dylan Wiggins 2023 singles 2023 songs Ariana Grande songs Songs written by Ariana Grande Republic Records singles XO (record label) singles Canadian synth-pop songs American synth-pop songs