Die For You [The Weeknd]

Ariana Grande Heard The ‘Not A Singer Anymore’ Slander And Returned To No. 1 On The Hot 100 With The Weeknd

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Ariana Grande just pulled off the ultimate flex. She’s deep in her Wicked era, transforming into Glinda for Jon M. Chu’s forthcoming two-part film adaptation. Arianators are needlessly worrying that one of the biggest pop stars on the planet will suddenly stop being one of the biggest pop stars on the planet.

Grande directly responded to her fans in January, but the notion that she’s “not a singer anymore” was emphatically put to bed today, March 6. Worry not: Whenever Ariana Grande decides to sing, she reigns supreme. Her power is evident on the new Billboard Hot 100 chart dated March 11, where Grande and The Weeknd’s “Die For You (Remix)” sits at No. 1.

“Wrote and recorded a verse for my friend after a 14 hour day on set,” Grande wrote in a TikTok video showing her in the studio, posted on February 21 ahead of the song’s February 24 release. “This certain exception had to be made …..”

@arianagrande

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♬ original sound – arianagrande

Per Billboard, “Die For You (Remix)” is the seventh No. 1 on the Hot 100 for Grande and The Weeknd, respectively, and it marks their second No. 1 together. “Save Your Tears” peaked at No. 1 in May 2021. It couldn’t come at a better time for The Weeknd, who needs some good news to balance out all of the reported drama and dysfunction around his HBO series, The Idol.

The top 10 of the Hot 100 chart dated March 11 is rounded out by Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers” at No. 2, SZA’s “Kill Bill” at No. 3, PinkPantheress and Ice Spice’s “Boy’s A Liar, Pt. 2” at No. 4, Morgan Wallen’s “Last Night” at No. 5, Metro Boomin, The Weeknd, and 21 Savage’s “Creepin’” at No. 6, Karol G and Shakira’s “TQG” at No. 7, Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ “Unholy” at No. 8, Taylor Swift’s “Anti-Hero” at No. 9, and Beyoncé’s “Cuff It” at No. 10.

Before today, Cyrus enjoyed six consecutive No. 1 weeks with “Flowers,” the lead single from her Endless Summer Vacation album due this Friday, March 10.

The Weeknd And Ariana Grande Will Work Their Magic Once Again On An Upcoming ‘Die For You’ Remix

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After Ariana Grande teased her remix of The Weeknd’s Starboy anthem “Die For You,” the two artists have revealed the song’s release date: Friday, February 24.

The remix is coming nearly seven years after the single’s original release because it returned to the Billboard Hot 100 thanks to TikTok users, who have apparently discovered it and set to streaming it all the way to the top 10. After climbing all the way to No. 8 in January, it actually gained a spot this week, landing at No. 7, overtaking Taylor Swift’s megahit “Anti-Hero” (also a TikTok fave).

It’ll likely climb even higher after the release of the remix, just in time to help plug The Weeknd’s upcoming HBO Max special The Weeknd: Live At SoFi Stadium. The special is set to make up for the singer’s September tour stop in LA when he lost his voice mid-song. Not a bad fumble recovery at all, there, Abel.

The song will be the latest in a long string of collaborations between the two megastars. They most recently teamed up in 2021 for a remix of The Weeknd’s single “Save Your Tears” from After Hours, which followed their prior joint effort from Ariana Grande’s album Positions, “Off The Table,” in 2020. They’ve developed a reputation for fan-favorite chemistry and their “Die For You” remix should live up to that standard, temporarily filling the void in Grande fans’ hearts as they wait for her to finish filming Wicked before she starts working on new music of her own.

Ariana Grande Might Be Deep In Her ‘Wicked’ Era, But She Was Willing To Hit The Studio For One Particular Friend

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Music Twitter is in a frenzy after The Weeknd teased what appeared to be a remix of his Starboy standout “Die For You” featuring the return of a long-absent pop diva.

The Toronto singer shared a TikTok video from none other than Ariana Grande, who apparently filmed herself recording vocals for the updated track. “Wrote and recorded a verse for my friend after a 14-hour day on set,” she wrote. “This certain exception had to be made…”

The exception, of course, was to record outside music while working on the film adaptation of Wicked, which is currently eating up the bulk of the 29-year-old singer’s schedule. However, she beat the “not a singer anymore” allegations with a glimmering “Somewhere Over The Rainbow” rendition for her TikTok followers.

Obviously, she’ll be doing a bit of singing in Wicked as Glinda (the “good witch”), but for now, she won’t be working on new music of her own until Wicked wraps and releases.

It’s very interesting that The Weeknd is choosing to remix a now-seven-year-old song, but it shows his awareness of trends; thanks to fans on TikTok, the song broke the Billboard Hot 100’s top ten in January, and has remained there ever since. It’s symbolic of the new era of music in which decades-old songs can crack the Hot 100 for the first time thanks to sci-fi shows and TikTok trends, and The Weeknd might just be showing his peers how best to capitalize on old tracks that become new hits.

We’ll see if the actual remix drops in the near future, but for now, this teaser offers just enough of a glimpse at what it could be to get fans excited.