The Weeknd has made chart history once again with his No. 1 hit “Blinding Lights,” which has now spent 52 weeks in the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Billboard reports that “Blinding Lights” has landed at No. 3 for the latest week of the chart, and it’s now become the first song in the history of the Hot 100 to spend a year in the top ten. The next closest number of weeks spent in the top ten is Post Malone’s “Circles,” which stuck around for 39 weeks. Not only is “Blinding Lights” the longest a song has spent in the top ten, it’s also spent the most total weeks in the top five at 43. So far it has spent 65 weeks in the Hot 100 in total, and will need to eclipse Imagine Dragons’ 87 weeks with “Radioactive” to break another record.
Elsewhere in the weekly chart, Olivia Rodrigo’s “Drivers License” has held on to its No. 1 spot for an eighth week. Cardi B’s “Up” has also clung onto its spot at No. 2.
Despite the commercial success of the record, and plenty of glowing reviews, “Blinding Lights” and After Hours failed to get a single nomination at the 2021 Grammys. In a recent interview, the Weeknd said that the snub “hit me out of nowhere,” and he was genuinely shocked about it. “We did everything right, I think,” he said. “I’m not a cocky person. I’m not arrogant. People told me I was going to get nominated. The world told me. Like, ‘This is it; this is your year.’ We were all very confused.”
Regardless of the Grammys situation, the Weeknd was still able to kick off his 2021 with a bang thanks to his Super Bowl LV halftime performance. Just recently it was announced that Showtime will air a 90-minute feature documentary on the making of the show later this year.
In a new interview published March 9 with Billboard, the Weeknd reflected on his latest achievement.
“After Hours was always meant to be a very personal project. It’s a story I had to tell,” The Weeknd said. “The fact I’ve been able to tell it with the world listening is incredible. This Billboard chart record is truly a result of the fans. I’m so humbled and forever grateful to them.”
