Blinding Lights

"Blinding Lights"
"Blinding Lights"
Single by the Weeknd
from the album After Hours
Released	November 29, 2019
Studio	MXM (Los Angeles, California); Jungle City (New York, New York);
Genre	Synth-pop; new wave; synthwave; electropop;
Length	3:20
Label	XO; Republic;
Songwriter(s)	Abel Tesfaye; Ahmad Balshe; Jason Quenneville; Max Martin; Oscar Holter;
Producer(s)	Max Martin; Oscar Holter; The Weeknd;
The Weeknd singles chronology
Music video
	"Blinding Lights" on YouTube

"Blinding Lights" is a song by the Canadian singer-songwriter the Weeknd, from his fourth studio album, After Hours (2020). The song was released through XO and Republic Records on November 29, 2019, as the album's second single. The Weeknd wrote the song with Max Martin, Oscar Holter, Belly, and DaHeala; the former three producing the song. It is a synth-pop, new wave, synthwave, and electropop track, which lyrically addresses the importance of a partner, and the desire to see someone at night.

"Blinding Lights" was praised by music journalists upon release, many noting its callback to the music of the 1980s, and its aesthetic. The song was a commercial success, topping the record charts in over 40 countries, including his native Canada, making it his most successful single to date. In the United States, "Blinding Lights" topped the Billboard Hot 100 for four non-consecutive weeks, becoming his fifth number one in the country, and became the song with the most weeks spent in the top five and top ten, becoming the first song to hold a spot in the top ten for an entire year. It became the chart's longest-charting song for a short period of time, remaining on it for a total of 90 weeks, and was named as the chart's best-performing song of all time on November 23, 2021. It was certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and seven times platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). It was also the best-selling global single of 2020, and became Spotify's most streamed song, and the first song to surpass four billion streams.

Anton Tammi directed the song's music video, which was filmed over a four-day period shot in the night. Inspired by films such as Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Joker, and Casino, it depicts the Weeknd speeding through a city, after getting beaten by bouncers and being forced on the run. "Blinding Lights" was performed on television shows such as The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Saturday Night Live, and was performed for his headlining set at the Super Bowl LV halftime show. It received several awards and nominations, winning Song of the Year at the 2021 iHeartRadio Music Awards and Juno Awards of 2021.

^ Peacock, Tim (February 15, 2020). "The Weeknd Reveals Title Of His Upcoming Album, After Hours". uDiscover Music.
^ Grow, Kory (December 7, 2020). "The 50 Best Songs of 2020". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
^ Rossignol, Derrick (November 29, 2019). "The Weeknd Goes Full Synthwave On The Yearning New Single 'Blinding Lights'". Uproxx. Retrieved December 1, 2019.
^ "The Weeknd sets sights on dominating 2020 with swaggering 'Heartless' and 'Blinding Lights'". NME. November 29, 2019. Retrieved December 9, 2019.

[1] Peacock, Tim (February 15, 2020). "The Weeknd Reveals Title Of His Upcoming Album, After Hours". uDiscover Music.

[RS-2] Grow, Kory (December 7, 2020). "The 50 Best Songs of 2020". Rolling Stone. Retrieved December 7, 2020.

[3] Rossignol, Derrick (November 29, 2019). "The Weeknd Goes Full Synthwave On The Yearning New Single 'Blinding Lights'". Uproxx. Retrieved December 1, 2019.

[4] "The Weeknd sets sights on dominating 2020 with swaggering 'Heartless' and 'Blinding Lights'". NME. November 29, 2019. Retrieved December 9, 2019.

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