The Weeknd’s Impressive Year So Far

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The Weeknd has been taking the music industry by storm. Credit: Sidestep Magazine

Felipe Villanueva, Contributing Writer

By now anybody who has listened to pop music on the radio is familiar with The Weeknd’s unique voice and notorious hits like  “Can’t Feel My Face” ,”The Hills”, and “Starboy,” to name a few. The Weeknd’s had quite a year in the music industry after the releases of “Blinding Lights” on November 29, 2019 and “Heartless” on November 27, 2019. Both songs were released very close to each other, and they each racked up significant numbers both in 2019 and 2020. Soon, The Weeknd would release his fourth studio album, “After Hours” on March 20, 2020, by XO and Republic Records, featuring a variety of producers such as DaHeala, Max Martin, and Metro Boomin, whom he had worked with previously. Most recently, The Weeknd’s adrenaline-pumping 80s-vibe hit “Blinding Lights” broke the  record for the most weeks in the Billboard Top 10. As of now, “Blinding Lights” remains a Top 10 hit in Billboard Hot 100 chart history, with 44 weeks. This also extends the record for the longest running Top 5 hit of all-time with 35 weeks. Not to mention, “Blinding Lights” is now the first song in Spotify history to spend a full year in the Top 10 Global Chart! With all that said, The Weeknd had one of 2020s biggest hit albums “After Hours” and one of his most successful singles “Blinding Lights.” Surprisingly, he ended up getting a total of zero Grammy nominations this year, despite his impressive Grammys track record of 3 wins out of 10 nominations in recent years. This is alarming, since The Weeknd has been sweeping other award shows this year. Despite the odds against The Weeknd, he is set to headline The Super Bowl Halftime Show this upcoming Super Bowl. “We all grow up watching the world’s biggest acts playing the Super Bowl, and one can only dream of being in that position,” The Weeknd said in a statement. “I’m humbled, honored and ecstatic to be the center of that infamous stage this year.” The Weeknd continues to dominate the music industry!