Earned It

"Earned It", alternatively titled "Earned It (Fifty Shades of Grey)", is a song by Canadian singer The Weeknd. The song was released as the lead single from the soundtrack to the 2015 film Fifty Shades of Grey and was included on The Weeknd's second studio album Beauty Behind the Madness.

"Earned It" peaked at number three on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming The Weeknd's first top five single. The song's popularity made Fifty Shades of Grey the latest soundtrack to generate concurrent top-ten singles with Ellie Goulding's "Love Me like You Do", which also peaked at number three. Its music video was directed by the film's director Sam Taylor-Johnson, features the film's lead actress Dakota Johnson, and it features clips of the film and the same BDSM theme. The song is nominated for Best Original Song at the 88th Academy Awards.

Background

The Weeknd was involved in the project very early. Tom Mackay, a manager at Republic Records, explained: "He worked on a number of songs for a number of scenes. Some were working and some weren’t, but he just kept at it, and kept at it, and kept at it. In the end, he wrote ‘Earned It’ and it’s the biggest song of his career to date. It’s the only song that’s in the movie twice." Director Sam Taylor-Johnson said The Weeknd's voice is instantly seductive, which fit the film perfectly. The singer agreed saying the film and his music is like "a match made in heaven." The single was later included as a single from The Weeknd's album Beauty Behind the Madness (2015).