The Weeknd Takes ‘Die For You’ to New Heights on Ariana Grande-Assisted Remix
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Thanks to TikTok, songs released decades ago can emerge into mainstream popularity with ease, often quite unexpectedly. All it usually takes is a viral trend, or the creation of a sped-up version that draws more attention than the original. From there, it becomes a game of capturing the moment. But The Weeknd, whose 2016 single “Die For You” experienced a sudden resurgence over the last year and a half, is working smarter, not harder.
The Weeknd first bolstered the song’s newfound success with an unreleased music video to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Starboy. Now, he’s bridging the gap between 2016 and 2022 with an official remix featuring Ariana Grande.
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Grande joins about a minute into the remix, with her vocals lifting the chorus alongside The Weeknd, before delivering her own new verse. “I’m finding ways to stay concentrated on what I gotta do/But, baby boy, it’s so hard around you/And yes, I’m blaming you,” sings Grande in the remix addition. “And you know I can’t fake it, now or never/And you’re insinuating that you think we might be better/ Better me and you.”
“Wrote and recorded a verse for my friend after a 14-hour day on set,” Grande shared in a muted TikTok teaser showing herself in front of an open Pro Tools session. “This certain exception had to be made…” The singer is currently filming the movie adaptation of Wicked, in which she plays Glinda.
With four official collaborations under their belt, The Weeknd and Grande have proven to be a match made in musical heaven. Beyond crediting her with kickstarting his creative partnership with pop maestro Max Martin, The Weeknd has praised her skillset rather than only highlighting her more obvious capabilities as a vocal performer. “I’ve seen Ariana work in real time,” he wrote on Twitter, adding onto a conversation about non-male producers. “That woman is a BEAST on pro tools.”
Nearly a decade after their first collaboration, 2014’s “Love Me Harder,” The Weeknd and Grande are continuing to build their shared catalog of deep cuts, remixes, and singles. In October 2020, The Weeknd appeared on the Positions deep cut “Off The Table” for what Grande described on the Zach Sang Show as “a very intimate moment and writing process between two friends.”
Shortly after, in April 2021, The Weeknd tapped Grande to elevate the After Hours single “Save Your Tears” with an appearance on its official remix. The duo took the stage at the 2021 iHeartRadio Music Awards later that year to perform the record together. By then, Grande hadn’t delivered any promotional performances for her own singles, like “Positions” or “34 + 35,” but she still made a point of showing up for her collaborator.
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