Blinding Lights

Not to be confused with Blinding Light, Blinded by the Light, Blinded by the Lights, or City of Blinding Lights.

"Blinding Lights"
Single by the Weeknd
from the album After Hours
ReleasedNovember 29, 2019 (2019-11-29)
Studio
Genre
Length3:22
Label
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
  • Max Martin
  • Oscar Holter
  • The Weeknd
The Weeknd singles chronology
"Heartless"
(2019) 		"Blinding Lights"
(2019) 		"After Hours"
(2020)
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, with the former three producing the song. It is a synth-pop, electropop, new wave, and synthwave track, which lyrically addresses the importance of a partner, and the desire to see them at night.

"Blinding Lights" received universal acclaim by music journalists upon release, with many noting its aesthetic, as well as its callback to the music of the 1980s. 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, earning his fifth number one in the country. It became the song with the most weeks spent in the top five and top ten and the first song to hold a spot in the top ten for an entire year. It was the longest-charting song in history 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). According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, it was the best-selling global single of 2020 and the best-selling song overall since 2020 by stream equivalent units. On Spotify, it is the most streamed song of all time, 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, his headlining set at the Super Bowl LV halftime show, and was included on the set list for his After Hours til Dawn Tour. It received several awards and nominations, winning Song of the Year at the 2021 iHeartRadio Music Awards and Juno Awards of 2021.

  1. ^ Peacock, Tim (February 15, 2020). "The Weeknd Reveals Title Of His Upcoming Album, After Hours". uDiscover Music. Archived from the original on February 15, 2020. Retrieved February 15, 2020.
  2. ^ "The Weeknd sets sights on dominating 2020 with swaggering 'Heartless' and 'Blinding Lights'". NME. November 29, 2019. Archived from the original on March 11, 2020. Retrieved December 9, 2019.
  3. ^ Grow, Kory (December 7, 2020). "The 50 Best Songs of 2020". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on February 13, 2023. Retrieved December 7, 2020.
  4. ^ Rossignol, Derrick (November 29, 2019). "The Weeknd Goes Full Synthwave On The Yearning New Single 'Blinding Lights'". Uproxx. Archived from the original on December 3, 2019. Retrieved December 1, 2019.