The Weeknd

The Weeknd & Jenna Ortega Join Forces With Barry Keoghan In Upcoming Movie

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Now that he’s had an undeniably successful run in the music industry, Abel Tesfaye is turning his talents to acting. He’s been in plenty of his own creative visuals to accompany his songs over the years. However, it wasn’t until 2019 that he captured the world’s attention while playing himself in A24’s Uncut Gems alongside Julia Fox and Adam Sandler.

Since then, the Canadian has also tried his hand at voice acting on shows like American Dad! and The Simpsons, both of which received a positive response from fans. Later this year, he’ll appear in the Sam Levinson-directed series, The Idol alongside Lily-Rose Depp for HBO. As we eagerly wait for the arrival of that, more exciting news comes from The Weeknd’s camp today (February 28).

Abel’s Leading Man Debut

Julia Fox, Kevin Garnett, The Weeknd and Adam Sandler attend the premiere of A24’s “Uncut Gems” at The Dome at ArcLight Hollywood on December 11, 2019, in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)

According to Variety, the “Blinding Lights” singer has co-written a movie script with Reza Fahim, Kevin Turen, and Harrison Kreiss. At this time, the story’s premise remains unknown, but so far, we know that a buzzworthy cast will be assisting The Weeknd. Tesfaye will take on his first leading role in the forthcoming film, with Oscar-nominated The Banshees of Inisherin star Barry Keoghan appearing beside him.

Additionally, 20-year-old Jenna Ortega, who most recently found success as the lead in Netflix’s Wednesday, is on board. Trey Edward Shults will be sitting in the director’s chair, following his work on Waves and It Comes at Night. He also played a role in writing the unnamed project’s script and will be executive producing alongside The Weeknd. Shooting will take place in Los Angeles, with more updates likely to pour in over the coming months.

Jenny Ortega is Booked & Busy

For someone so young, Ortega certainly has a lot going for her. Not only did she entertain audiences in The Addams Family spinoff series, but she was also a staple in season two of You and the Scream IV film. Her working relationship with Tesfaye is an exciting development, but it has nothing on the possibility of the rising starlet working with Aubrey Plaza.

During this past weekend’s SAG Awards, the actresses presented an award together, causing Twitter to run rampant with pleas to have them cast in the same project. After hearing what fans want, the Parks & Rec alum responded, “I’m down. We’ll just kill everybody with our eyes.” Are you excited about Ortega and The Weeknd’s upcoming movie? Sound off in the comments, and check back later for more pop culture news updates.

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The Weeknd Is Not Only Starring In A Film With Jenna Ortega, But He Also Produced And Wrote It

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the weeknd 2021 iHeart Awards
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The Weeknd is stretching his creative muscles. The Toronto singer has not only secured his first-ever lead role in a feature film but he also wrote and produced it. It hasn’t been titled yet, but it already has an award-winning pedigree; director Trey Edward Shults (best known for It Comes At Night and Waves) is signed on as director, co-producer, and co-writer, while Barry Keoghan (from Eternals and The Banshees Of Inisherin) and Jenna Ortega (Scream, Wednesday, X) are billed as The Weeknd’s co-stars. The score is being composed by The Weeknd and Oneohtrix Point Never, who produced the singer’s last album, Dawn FM, as well as scoring Uncut Gems, in which The Weeknd appeared as himself.

The Weeknd is also due to show off his acting chops in the HBO series The Idol, which was co-created by The Weeknd, Reza Fahim, and Euphoria creator Sam Levinson and is set to air later this year. The show was recently re-tooled to embrace a “new creative direction,” which just might give the rookie producer some valuable experience that could serve him well as he takes the reins of his first feature film, which is currently shooting in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile, The Weeknd’s music career continues to flourish; he recently released an Ariana Grande-featuring remix of his 2016 hit “Die For You” after TikTok resurrected and launched it into the Hot 100 top ten and his Live From SoFi Stadium special is now streaming on HBO Max.

The Weeknd Becomes The First Artist To Reach 100 Million Monthly Listeners On Spotify

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A little over a year since the release of his colossal album Dawn FM, The Weeknd is still the center of attention. Just this month, there’s been the unveiling of The Weeknd: Live At SoFi Stadium and the collaboration with Ariana Grande for the “Die For You” remix.

Now, he’s broken a new record. As of today, February 27, he became the first artist in Spotify History to reach 100 million monthly listeners.

Last month, he broke Spotify’s record for most monthly listeners in the world with 94.73 million listeners.

Also in January, he spoke about his song for Avatar: The Way Of Water, “Nothing Is Lost (You Give Me Strength),” being placed on the shortlist for the upcoming Academy Awards. “I feel honored to be part of that list,” he said about the milestone. “Any kind of recognition for it feels like a blessing.”

“I didn’t know if I was going to be able to live to see tomorrow,” he added about when the original Avatar came out in 2009. “And I remember I somehow got to see the film in theaters. I don’t know how I got in. It was such an escape from my real life that the film is tattooed in my brain.”

Ariana Grande Gives The Weeknd’s Timeless ‘Die For You’ A Saccharine Update

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Nearly seven years after its original release, The Weeknd‘s “Die For You” is getting the remix treatment. The song was originally released in 2016 as part of The Weeknd’s Starboy album, however, saw a resurgence on the charts after it went viral on TikTok. Since then, “Die For You” has peaked at No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100.

On the remix of “Die For You,” The Weeknd is joined by his frequent collaborator, Ariana Grande, who blesses the song with a new verse.

“I’m finding ways to stay concentrated on what I gotta do / But baby boy it’s so hard round you / Yes I’m blaming you,” she sings, delivering her signature soft-tinged vocals.

This marks the fourth collaboration between The Weeknd and Grande — others including, 2014’s “Love Me Harder” from Grande’s sophomore album, My Everything, 2020’s “Off The Table” from Grande’s sixth studio album, Positions, and a 2021 remix of “Save Your Tears” from The Weeknd’s fourth studio album, After Hours.

In a TikTok shared by Grande earlier this week, she revealed that she produced and recorded her verse following a 14-hour day on set shooting Wicked.

@arianagrande

⭐🌙

♬ original sound – arianagrande

“This certain exception had to be made…” read text over the video clip.

You can check out the “Die For You” remix above.

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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ariana grande die for you
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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.

The Weeknd Earns 5th Diamond Certification For “Earned It” + 5 More Songs That Could Be Next

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The Weeknd Platinum

Recently, The Weeknd received a great birthday gift. The Canadian recording artist received his fifth Diamond certification for “Earned It,” the Grammy-winning hit from the 50 Shades of Grey soundtrack. The Weeknd’s birthday weekend is off to a good start. The “Starboy” received his fifth Diamond certification from the Recording Industry Association of America for […]

The post The Weeknd Earns 5th Diamond Certification For “Earned It” + 5 More Songs That Could Be Next appeared first on SOHH.com.

The Weeknd Scores First Album In History With 3 Diamond Singles

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The Weeknd’s 2015 album Beauty Behind The Madness just became the first album to have three Diamond-certified singles. Furthermore, the Recording Industry Association of America gave Diamond plaques to his tracks “Can’t Feel My Face,” “Earned It,” and “The Hills.” All these songs sold over 10 million album-equivalent units, likely pushed by their huge streaming numbers. Also, it somewhat solidifies Beauty as The Weeknd’s commercial breakthrough and his flag-planting moment in pop culture. Overall, this is quite the milestone for the Canadian singer, who’s incredibly familiar with success at this point.

INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA – NOVEMBER 27: In this image released on December 7, The Weeknd performs during his “After Hours Til Dawn” tour at SoFi Stadium on November 27, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for Live Nation)

For example, Abel Tesfaye ranks as one of the most streamed artists of all time. Of course, such a feat is unsurprising considering that his 2020 hit “Blinding Lights” is the most-streamed song on Spotify. While much of his profile and career discussion center around the numbers, he’s arguably one of the most influential artists of his generation, as well. From his first mixtapes, he established a cult underground following that influenced a moodier R&B sound. In addition, he evolved from dark R&B to sultrier ballads, from trap beats to ’80s synth drums, and so on.

Also, the singer’s talents and creativity usually extend far beyond the musical world, as he contributed to multiple film soundtracks. Not only that, but he has some starring roles under his belt, as well. Still, his most recent soundtrack work landed on the Avatar: The Way of Water soundtrack. Furthermore, he spoke earnestly about how its predecessor helped him. “That was probably the darkest time of my life,” he expressed to The Hollywood Reporter about Avatar‘s release in 2009.

“I didn’t know if I was going to succeed as a musician,” he continued. “I didn’t know if I was going to be able to live to see tomorrow. And I remember I somehow got to see the film in theaters. I don’t know how I got in. It was such an escape from my real life that the film is tattooed in my brain.” It’s been a treat to see his trajectory, so stay tuned to HNHH for whatever The Weeknd brings us next. Also, happy belated birthday to The Weeknd, who’s celebrating big with his album and its Diamond singles.