Thanks to TikTok’s resurgence of The Weeknd’s “Die For You,” the record has jumped to No. 1 on the Billboard Pop Airplay chart and the all-format Radio Songs chart for the week of Feb. 11. This is the longest period from a single’s release to its ascension on Radio Songs chart since it began in 1990.
According to Luminate, the single from the crooner’s 2016 album, Starboy, gained 5% increase to 85.2 million airplay audience impressions for the tracking week of Jan. 27-Feb. 2. It is also No. 6 on the Billboard Hot 100. “Die For You” now joins The Weeknd’s four other Radio Songs No. 1s, including “Earned It,” “Can’t Feel My Face,” “The Hills,” and “Blinding Lights.”
Matt Mony, program director of Pop Airplay for WYOY FM in Jackson, Miss., stated, “…I think the bigger success of ‘Die for You’ as opposed to ‘Take My Breath’ or ‘Sacrifice’ comes down to timing. ‘Blinding Lights’ was such a massive record that I think it heavily overshadowed anything from Dawn FM. The Dawn FM singles weren’t weaker than ‘Die for You,’ they just came too early. The audience was not ready for more Weeknd yet, in my opinion. Had the album come out this year, the singles probably would have charted higher.”
He later shared that it was “a little odd” to initially add “Die For You” back into rotation, but also no different than Kate Bush’s revived 1985 hit, “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God).” Mony explained, “How songs become hits is changing, and I think having older songs get played as currents proves anything can be a hit now.”
Back in November, SZA teased that her shelved “Die For You” remix may be rerecorded. However, there’s no word on the status of that hidden gem.