The Weeknd’s iconic synth-pop track Blinding Lights has claimed another title, becoming the first song ever to reach 4 billion streams on Spotify.
This milestone, announced by Spotify on X over (ahem) the weekend, came about a year after Blinding Lights surpassed Ed Sheeran’s Shape of You to become Spotify’s most-streamed song of all time. It also topped Chubby Checker’s The Twist as the No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hit of all time.
As of Monday (January 15), the track has racked up 4.005 billion streams on Spotify. The Weeknd is also currently the No. 1 artist on Spotify with 113.5 million monthly listeners, surpassing Spotify’s most-streamed artist of 2023, Taylor Swift, who currently has 107.7 million.
The track was released in November 2019 as as the second single from his fourth studio album, After Hours, which dropped in March 2020. It topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart for four weeks, and was the first song to stay in the chart’s Top 10 for an entire year.
Swedish musicians Max Martin and Oscar Holter co-produced the song alongside The Weeknd and Canadian musicians Belly and DaHeala.
“I’ll never stop being humbled by anything I create making its way to millions of people let alone billions.”
The Weeknd
On YouTube, the official music video for Blinding Lights has generated 787 million views since it premiered in January 2020.
“I’ll never stop being humbled by anything I create making its way to millions of people let alone billions,” The Weeknd (born Abel Makkonen Tesfaye) was quoted by Billboard as saying in an exclusive statement.
“I’m so thankful this song makes people feel a way that they keep going back to listen.”
Jeremy Erlich, Spotify’s global head of music, told Billboard: “The Weeknd continues to reach new heights year after year on Spotify.”
“This is one of many records he has broken with us. As our platform continues to grow globally, his music reaches more and more people, and his fandom deepens.”
Jeremy Erlich, Spotify
“This is one of many records he has broken with us. As our platform continues to grow globally, his music reaches more and more people, and his fandom deepens. The success of ‘Blinding Lights’ is a prime example that nothing connects people more than music. It’s an exceptional song in a class of its own.”
Meanwhile, Variety reports that Blinding Lights has made about $15.5 million to $17.5 million in royalties for the sound recording and another $4.5 million or more in publishing.
The achievement marks a strong start to the year for The Weeknd, who has not released an album since Dawn FM in January 2022. The artist has yet to confirm when his sixth studio album is dropping.
In May 2023, The Weeknd told W Magazine: “The album I’m working on now is probably my last hurrah as The Weeknd. This is something that I have to do. As The Weeknd, I’ve said everything I can say.”
Music Business Worldwide
