Last December 15th The Weeknd (real name Abel Makkonen Tesfaye) has published Nothing is Lost (You Give Me Strength)main song from the film’s soundtrack Avatar – The way of water. The Canadian artist wrote the ballad (which sees the production of Swedish House Mafia together with Simon Franglen) precisely for the second chapter of James Cameron’s record-breaking epic, released at the cinema last December 14th. And since then he hadn’t published anything new.
Just a few days ago, more precisely on March 3, The Weeknd released his first live album, After Hours (Live at SoFi Stadium). This is the recording of the artist’s concert in Los Angeles last November. A show that was part of his After Hours Til Dawn Tour.
They are present inside 31 tracks. In addition to the stronger tracks contained in his two most recent albums – After Hours (2020) and Dawn FM (2022) – in the tracklist there are also his most famous songs from the past. A nice way to retrace with his fans the very successful career that kicked off when he was seventeen and writing songs with an R & B sound.
The multi-platinum artist – who will star in a television series entitled The Idol, out soon on HBO with Lily-Rose Depp – has some live appointments in the coming months. And, yes: there is also Italy. On 26 and 27 July he will play at the Ippodromo La Maura in Milan. Two dates eagerly awaited by its Italian audience (here the information).
The Weeknd is universally recognized as a record-breaking artist. But which primates are we talking about? And where is the secret of his conquests? Here are four records to ponder.
1. He now shares a record with Michael Jackson
The most recent primacy that sees the hand of The Weeknd has to do with Michael Jackson. Indeed, the Canadian artist of Save Your Tears has just conquered a not bad record, which until a few days ago belonged only to the King of Pop. Now both artists are the only male to have conquered the #1 of the Billboard Hot 100 (the ranking that determines the most popular songs in the United States of America) with multiple singles from three different albums.
If Jackson had seen songs contained in albums triumph in the famous chart Off the Wall, Thrillers And BadThe Weeknd instead conquered the top with hits of Beauty Behind the Madness, Starboy And After Hours. This primacy came thanks to the growth of the remix of Die For You together with Ariana Grande who conquered the #1 of the Hot 100even making the hit of the moment recede Flowers by Miley Cyrus.
2. He is the world’s most listened to singer on Spotify
Today, music is enjoyed in many ways. And we know how much streaming is now a very important indicator of the success of artists. A few weeks ago, The Weeknd was the first ever to have more than 100 million monthly listeners on Spotify. A mind-boggling figure that led him to be the #1 artist on the platform.
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The Weeknd
3. He is the fourth artist ever to have five or more diamond certifications
In 2014 The Weeknd released a title track Earned It as the lead single from the film’s soundtrack Fifty Shades of Gray. The song was nominated as Best Original Song garlic Oscars 2016 and won a Grammy as Best R&B Performance. The song recently got the diamond record RIAA certification.
DJ-linked Canadian artist Simi Khadra had earned this certification with four other songs: The Hills, Starboy feat Daft Punk, blinding lights And Can’t Feel My Face. So, The Weeknd is now the fourth artist of all time to have five or more diamond certifications to his credit.
4. Die For You and the longest climb to 1 in US radio history
As already mentioned, last February 24th The Weeknd and Ariana Grande issued the remix of Die For Yousong contained in the album Starboy of 2016. This new version has stood at the top of the Billboard Radio Songs Chart for two weeks.
This has been defined by many as «the longest climb to #1 in the history of US radio». After years, in fact, the song has also returned to the Top 20 of the Billboard Global 200.