The Weeknd worked with Max Martin on this song in the Swedish producer's West Hollywood studio, which used to be home to both Frank Sinatra and Marilyn Monroe. Martin also co-wrote and co-produced the Toronto' native's hit single "Can't Feel My Face" and his collaboration with Ariana Grande, "Love Me Harder."

"In a span of like a month, we did so many songs," The Weeknd told GQ. "Max's studio used to be Marilyn Monroe's old house and I came up with the concept for a song called "In the Night" in her bedroom. That was pretty amazing. Unfortunately I couldn't help but imagine Joe DiMaggio's sperm everywhere on the floor."

The song's sound both pays homage to and updates 1980s Michael Jackson. The upbeat instrumentation contrasts with the downbeat lyrics, which tell the story of a girl who is the victim of childhood sexual abuse. The Weeknd revealed to The New York Times that when he first played the song for Ron Perry, the president of Songs Music Publishing, Perry exclaimed: ''It's 'Billie Jean'! It's 'Billie [expletive] Jean'!''

It was after hearing another Michael Jackson tune, "Dirty Diana," that The Weeknd first knew he wanted to write songs.

The music video was directed by the creative duo BRTHR - who've who have also worked with the likes of Charli XCX, The Drums and Iggy Izalea. The lyrics are about a victim of abuse "dancing in the night to relieve the pain" and the directional duo decided to set the clip in a seedy '80s strip club run by gangsters.

The Weekend's model girlfriend Bella Hadid, stars as a dancer trying to escape her circumstances as the Canadian crooner sings the song outside in the rain. However, things get bloody when The Weeknd gets a gun pulled out on him.

The Weeknd performed this song at the Grammy Awards in 2016, where he was nominated for seven awards (he won two). Lauryn Hill was slated to be a surprise guest during this performance, but her appearance fell through, with Hill's rep issued a statement saying, "The performance was intended to be a surprise and unfortunately due to its last minute nature, was unable to come to fruition."