The Most Streamed Artist on Spotify of 2020 Had Over 8 Billion Streams
At the end of every year, Spotify reveals a recap of the top-performing songs, artists, and podcasts of the year. While some artists are chart mainstays, who have been trending for years, some artists truly come out of nowhere to dominate both the charts and social media.
This year, that genre-bending artist is the Puerto Rican singer and rapper Bad Bunny. He is known for his high-profile collaborations, and although he has been working in the music industry for years, 2020 was truly a banner year for the artist.
How did Bad Bunny become famous?
Bad Bunny was born Benito Antonio Martínez in Puerto Rico. Raised in a working-class family, the young man was drawn to music at an early age. Determined to make a name for himself, he wrote songs and uploaded them to SoundCloud in between working his shifts at a grocery store.
In 2016, he was signed to a record label while still working at the grocery store. 2017 was the year that the young artist first started trending, when he appeared in Cardi B’s music video “I Like It.”
In the months that followed his song with Cardi B, Bad Bunny collaborated with artists like Drake and J Balvin. He quickly became one of the hottest artists in the recording industry, introducing many fans to the wonders of Latin music.
He earned thousands and fans and was praised by critics for his charisma and talent. As big as Bad Bunny was in 2017, however, he experienced a truly staggering volume of success in 2020, proving that he is far from a one-hit-wonder.
Path to becoming the most streamed artist of 2020
In early 2020, Bad Bunny performed at the Super Bowl halftime show as a special guest of Jennifer Lopez and Shakira. The performance helped to introduce him to new fans around the world, and his songs quickly started trending after his performance went viral.
Not long after the Super Bowl set him on the path to greater success, he appeared on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine — a true milestone moment for any young artist.
Bad Bunny released a total of three albums in 2020, a studio album (his second) a compilation album, and eventually a third studio album. The albums spawned several hit singles, including the smash hit “Dakiti,” which topped Billboard charts.
Ultimately, Bad Bunny is poised to go into 2021 as one of the world’s biggest artists — and the recent report from Spotify only serves to solidify his status.
Bad Bunny is the most streamed artist of 2020
In the new Spotify “2020 Wrapped” list, Bad Bunny was named the most-streamed artist of the year, with a staggering 8.3 billion streams. The Latin artist far and away tops the list, with other music industry mainstays such as Drake and J Balvin not far behind him. Female artists at the top of the list include Billie Eilish, Taylor Swift, Dua Lipa, Ariana Grande, and Halsey.
The most-streamed song, according to the list, is “Blinding Light” by The Weeknd. The most-streamed album globally of 2020 is Bad Bunny’s YHLQMDLG.
While the Spotify list reads like a who’s who of the music business, the clear winner of the year, in terms of sheer listeners, is the young performer Bad Bunny.
Not only has the artist proven that he has the skills and ability to make it to the top, even in the midst of a global pandemic, but he has shown that he can grow a massive audience base like no other.
