Die For You

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Lore & Background

In a 2016 interview with Zane Lowe of Beats 1 Radio, the Weeknd said that "Die for You" was the last song to finish for his album Starboy and was completed merely a week before the album dropped. It was one of the tracks on the album to be previewed before its release as part of the 12-minute-long short film Mania, released on November 23. The song was officially released on November 25, 2016, as an album track. The Weeknd stated that it was difficult to write, specifically its lyrics. The music video, released on November 25, 2021, pays homage to the science fiction horror television series Stranger Things (2016-2025) and the science fiction film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). It depicts a couple in a tense relationship, with visual references to both 'Stranger Things' and 'E.T.'

In Their Own Story

The song's sheet music, published by Sony/ATV Music Publishing at musicnotes.com, shows that "Die for You" is written in the key of C♯ minor and follows a tempo of 72 beats per minute. The vocals in the song span from the low note of C♯4 to the high note of C♯6. Mosi Reeves of Rolling Stone said that the song "is a euphoric slow jam where he finally summons the poetic sincerity he mined so easily in the past." Christopher Hooton of The Independent said that the song "has a tragic ecstasy to it befitting an end of the world party that happens to fall on New Years' Eve." Larry Bartleet of NME called it "banal, forgettable fluff".

Reader's Guide

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. In late 2021 and throughout 2022, "Die for You" saw an increase in consumption as the song went viral on the social media platform TikTok alongside fellow album track "Stargirl Interlude". This led to the song 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. On the same day, it also reached number one on the mainstream top 40-based US Pop Airplay chart. On both charts, "Die for You" stayed at the top for two weeks. A remix with Ariana Grande was released on February 24, 2023, and propelled the song to number one on the Hot 100, marking both artists' seventh number-one single on the chart. According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), the remix was the fourth best-selling global single of 2023, earning 1.78 billion subscription streams equivalents globally.

Did You Know?

• "Die for You" was the last song finished for Starboy, completed merely a week before the album dropped.
• The song was originally scheduled to be sent to US contemporary hit radio on December 5, 2017, but its release to the format was cancelled for unknown reasons.
• The remix with Ariana Grande broke the record for longest climb to number one on the Hot 100 for a non-holiday song in history (over 6 years after release).
• The remix obtained the largest opening day streams for a remix in Spotify history with 8.9 million streams.
• An unreleased remix of "Die for You" featuring SZA premiered on the Weeknd's Apple Music 1 radio show Memento Mori on October 4, 2021.